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Constitutions 

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I  TOTES  and  STATISTICS  regarding 
"     TOWN  REPRESENTATION  in  the 
^eneral  Assembly  and  DOCUMENTS 
relating  to  the  CONSTITUTIONAL 
CONVENTION     of    1902 

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Printed   by  Order  of 

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THE      THREE 

Constitutions  of 

Connecticut 

1638-9 1662 1818 

MESSAGES  of  the  Governor;  Rejected 
Amendments  to  the  Constitution ;  Act 
Calling  Constitutional  Convention;  Proc- 
lamation of  Governor;    Roll  of  Delegates 

1901 

With   NOTES   ON  TOWN   REPRESENTATION 

By  CHARLES  J.  HOADLY,   1892 
AND    S^ATIS^ICS    REGARDING    'THE   SAME 


Compiled  tit 
COMPTROLLER'S  OFFICE 

IpOI 


HARTFORD,    CONN.: 
Printed  by  Order  of  the  Comptroller,  1901 


t?artfot&  press 

The  Case,  Lockwood  &  Brainard  Company 
1901 


STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT, 
COMPTROLLER'S  OFFICE, 

HARTFORD,  December,   1901. 

In  view  of  the  interest  manifested  in  the  approaching 
Constitutional  Convention,  and  particularly  regarding  the 
question  of  Town  Representation  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly, I  have  compiled  this  pamphlet. 

It  contains  the  three  Constitutions  of  Connecticut, 
that  of  1638-9,  of  1662,  and  of  1818;  the  messages  of 
His  Excellency  Governor  George  P.  McLean  regarding 
Constitutional  Reform  to  the  General  Assembly  of  1901 ; 
the  Constitutional  Amendments  proposed  to  and  rejected 
by  that  body,  and  the  Act  providing  for  the  Calling  of 
the  Constitutional  Convention,  with  the  Roll  of  Dele- 
gates to  the  same. 

I  have  added  the  Notes  upon  Town  Representation 
in  the  General  Assembly,  by  the  late  Dr.  C.  J.  Hoadly, 
State  Librarian,  reprinted  from  the  State  Register  of 
1892,  and  a  table  of  Statistics  of  Town  Representation, 
Population,  etc.,  compiled  in  this  office,  which  I  trust 
will  be  found  of  interest  and  value. 

A.  CHAMBERLAIN, 

Comptroller. 

PUBLICATION  No.   3 
CONNECTICUT  CONSTITUTIONS 

SERIES 


2013361 


Contents 


PAGE 

I.     Fundamental  Orders,  1638-9,        .         .  7 

II.     Charter  of  the  Colony,  1662,         .         .  17 

III.  Constitution  of  1818,  with  Amendments 

incorporated,          ....  33 

IV.  Extract    upon    Constitutional    Reform 

from  the  Message  of  Governor 
George  P.  McLean,  to  the  General 
Assembly  of  1901,  ...  57 

V.  Constitutional  Amendments  proposed 
to  and  rejected  by  the  General 
Assembly,  .  .  .  .  65 

VI.  Special  Message  of  Governor  McLean 
to  the  General  Assembly  upon  the 
calling  of  a  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion, ......  71 

VII.  Act  Providing  for  the  Calling  of  a  Con- 
stitutional Convention,  passed  by 
the  General  Assembly,  ...  75 

VIII.  Proclamation  of  Governor  McLean  call- 
ing for  Election  of  Delegates  to  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1902,  83 

IX.  Roll  of  Delegates  to  Constitutional  Con- 
vention, as  prepared  by  the  Secre- 
tary,    89 

X.     Town  Representation  in  the   General 

Assembly,  by  Dr.  C.  J.  Hoadly,     .  99 

XI.  Statistics  of  Towns,  Representation, 
Population,  Number  of  Electors, 
Vote  upon  Calling  Convention, 
Organization,  etc.,  .  .  .  109 


The  First 

Constitution  of 

Connecticut 


1638-9 


Printed  by  Order  of  the  Comptroller 


Note 


"  The  constitutional  history  of  Connecticut  properly  be- 
gins with  the  adoption,  on  the  fourteenth  of  January,  1638-39, 
of  the  *  Fundamental  Orders,'  by  which  '  the  inhabitants  and 
residents  of  Windsor,  Hartford,  and  Wethersfield '  became 
'  associated  and  conjoined  to  be  as  one  Public  State  or  Com- 
monwealth/ for  the  establishment  of  '  an  orderly  and  decent 
government,  according  to  God,  to  order  and  dispose  of  the 
affairs  of  the  people  at  all  seasons  as  occasion  shall  require.' ' 
(Dr.  Trumbull's  Historical  Notes  on  the  Constitutions.) 


The  First  Constitution 

of  Connecticut 

Cfje  '  *  jf untramental  ©rfcers; ' '  1 638=9 


FORASMUCH  as  it  hath  pleased  the  Almighty  God 
by  the  wise  disposition  of  his  divine  providence  so 
to  order  and  dispose  of  things  that  we  the  Inhabi- 
tants and  Residents  of  Windsor,  Hartford,  and 
Wethersfield  are  now  cohabiting  and  dwelling  in 
and  upon  the  River  of  Connectecotte  and  the  lands  there- 
unto adjoining;  and  well  knowing  where  a  people  are  gath- 
ered together  the  word  of  God  requires  that  to  maintain 
the  peace  and  union  of  such  a  people  there  should  be  an 
orderly  and  decent  Government  established  according  to  God, 
to  order  and  dispose  of  the  affairs  of  the  people  at  all  seasons 
as  occasion  shall  require ;  do  therefore  associate  and  conjoin 
ourselves  to  be  as  one  Public  State  or  Commonwealth ;  and 
do  for  ourselves  and  our  Successors  and  such  as  shall  be  ad- 
joined to  us  at  any  time  hereafter,  enter  into  Combination 
and  Confederation  together,  to  maintain  and  preserve  the 
liberty  and  purity  of  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  which  we 
now  profess,  as  also  the  discipline  of  the  Churches,  which  ac- 
cording to  the  truth  of  the  said  Gospel  is  now  practiced 
amongst  us ;  as  also  in  our  Civil  Affairs  to  be  guided  and 
governed  according  to  such  Laws,  Rules,  Orders,  and  De- 
crees as  shall  be  made,  ordered,  and  decreed,  as  followeth :  — 
i.  It  is  Ordered,  sentenced,  and  decreed,  that  there  shall 
be  yearly  two  General  Assemblies  or  Courts,  the  one  the  sec- 
ond Thursday  in  April,  the  other  the  second  Thursday  in 
September  following;  the  first  shall  be  called  the  Court  of 
Election,  wherein  shall  be  yearly  chosen  from  time  to  time 


12      THE  FIRST  CONSTITUTION  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

so  many  Magistrates  and  other  public  Officers  as  shall  be 
found  requisite  :  Whereof  one  to  be  chosen  Governor  for  the 
year  ensuing  and  until  another  be  chosen,  and  no  other  Mag- 
istrate to  be  chosen  for  more  than  one  year;  provided  always, 
there  be  six  chosen  besides  the  Governor,  which  being  chosen 
and  sworn  according  to  an  Oath  recorded  for  that  purpose, 
shall  have  power  to  administer  justice  according  to  the  Laws 
here  established,  and  for  want  thereof,  according  to  the  rule 
of  the  Word  of  God ;  which  choice  shall  be  made  by  all  that 
are  admitted  freemen  and  have  taken  the  Oath  of  Fidelity, 
and  do  cohabit  within  this  Jurisdiction  (having  been  admitted 
Inhabitants  by  the  major  part  of  the  Town  wherein  they  live)* 
or  the  major  part  of  such  as  shall  be  then  present. 

2.  It  is  Ordered,  sentenced,  and  decreed,  that  the  Elec- 
tion of  the  aforesaid  Magistrates  shall  be  on  this  manner: 
every  person  present  and  qualified  for  choice  shall  bring  in 
(to  the  persons  deputed  to  receive  them)  one  single  paper 
with  the  name  of  him  written  in  it  whom  he  desires  to  have 
Governor,  and  he  that  hath  the  greatest  number  of  papers 
shall  be  Governor  for  that  year.     And  the  rest  of  the  Magis- 
trates or  public  Officers  to  be  chosen  in  this  manner :  the  Sec- 
retary for  the  time  being  shall  first  read  the  names  of  all  that 
are  to  be  put  to  choice  and  then  shall  severally  nominate  them 
distinctly,  and  every  one  that  would  have  the  person  nomi- 
nated to  be  chosen  shall  bring  in  one  single  paper  written 
upon,  and  he  that  would  not  have  him  chosen  shall  bring  in 
a  blank :  and  every  one  that  hath  more  written  papers  than 
blanks  shall  be  a  Magistrate  for  that  year ;  which  papers  shall 
be  received  and  told  by  one  or  more  that  shall  be  then  chosen 
by  the  court  and  sworn  to  be  faithful  therein ;  but  in  case  there 
should  not  be  six  chosen  as  aforesaid,  besides  the  Governor, 
out  of  those  which  are  nominated,  then  he  or  they  which  have 
the  most  written  papers  shall  be  a  Magistrate  or  Magistrates 
for  the  ensuing  year,  to  make  up  the  aforesaid  number. 

3.  It  is  Ordered,  sentenced,  and  decreed,  that  the  Secre- 


*This  clause  was  interlined  in  a  different  handwriting,  and  is  of  a  later  date.    It 
was  adopted  by  the  General  Court  of  November,  1643. 


THE  FIRST  CONSTITUTION  OF  CONNECTICUT.       I3 

tary  shall  not  nominate  any  person,  nor  shall  any  person  be 
chosen  newly  into  the  Magistracy,  which  was  not  propounded 
in  some  General  Court  before,  to  be  nominated  the  next  Elec- 
tion ;  and  to  that  end  it  shall  be  lawful  for  each  of  the  Towns 
aforesaid  by  their  deputies  to  nominate  any  two  whom  they 
conceive  fit  to  be  put  to  election ;  and  the  Court  may  add  so 
many  more  as  they  judge  requisite. 

4.  It  is  Ordered,  sentenced,  and  decreed,  that  no  person 
be  chosen  Governor  above  once  in  two  years,  and  that  the 
Governor  be  always  a  member  of  some  approved  congrega- 
tion, and  formerly  of  the  Magistracy  within  this  Jurisdiction ; 
and  all  the  Magistrates,  Freemen  of  this  Commonwealth :  and 
that  no  Magistrate  or  other  public  officer  shall  execute  any 
part  of  his  or  their  office  before  they  are  severally  sworn, 
which  shall  be  done  in  the  face  of  the  court  if  they  be  present, 
and  in  case  of  absence  by  some  deputed  for  that  purpose. 

5.  It  is  Ordered,  sentenced,  and  decreed,  that  to  the  afore- 
said Court  of  Election  the  several  Towns  shall  send  their 
deputies,  and  when  the  Elections  are  ended  they  may  pro- 
ceed in  any  public  service  as  at  other  Courts.     Also  the  other 
General  Court  in  September  shall  be  for  making  of  laws,  and 
any  other  public  occasion,  which  concerns  the  good  of  the 
Commonwealth. 

6.  It  is  Ordered,  sentenced,  and  decreed,  that  the  Gov- 
ernor shall,  either  by  himself  or  by  the  secretary,  send  out 
summons  to  the  constables  of  every  Town  for  the  calling  of 
these  two  standing  Courts,  one  month  at  least  before  their 
several  times :     And  also  if  the  Governor  and  the  greatest 
part  of  the  Magistrates  see  cause  upon  any  special  occasion 
to  call  a  General  Court,  they  may  give  order  to  the  Secretary 
so  to  do  within  fourteen  days'  warning :   and  if  urgent  neces- 
sity   so    require,    upon    a    shorter    notice,    giving    sufficient 
grounds  for  it  to  the  deputies  when  they  meet,  or  else  be 
questioned  for  the  same ;  And  if  the  Governor  and  major  part 
of  Magistrates  shall  either  neglect  or  refuse  to  call  the  two 
General  standing  Courts  or  either  of  them,  as  also  at  other 
times  when  the  occasions  of  the  Commonwealth  require,  the 


I4      THE  FIRST  CONSTITUTION  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

Freemen  thereof,  or  the  major  part  of  them,  shall  petition 
to  them  so  to  do ;  if  then  it  be  either  denied  or  neglected,  the 
said  Freemen,  or  the  major  part  of  them,  shall  have  power 
to  give  order  to  the  Constables  of  the  several  Towns  to  do 
the  same,  and  so  may  meet  together,  and  choose  to  them- 
selves a  Moderator,  and  may  proceed  to  do  any  act  of  power 
which  any  other  General  Court  may. 

7.  It  is  Ordered,  sentenced,  and  decreed,  that  after  there 
are  warrants  given  out  for  any  of  the  said  General  Courts,  the 
Constable  or  Constables  of  each  Town  shall  forthwith  give 
notice  distinctly  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  same,  in  some  pub- 
lic assembly  or  by  going  or  sending  from  house  to  house,  that 
at  a  place  and  time  by  him  or  them  limited  and  set,  they  meet 
and  assemble  themselves  together  to  elect  and  choose  certain 
deputies  to  be  at  the  General  Court  then  following  to  agitate 
the  affairs  of  the  Commonwealth;  which  said  deputies  shall 
be  chosen  by  all  that  are  admitted  Inhabitants  in  the  several 
Towns  and  have  taken  the  oath  of  fidelity ;  provided  that  none 
be  chosen  a  Deputy  for  any  General  Court  which  is  not  a 
Freeman  of  this  Commonwealth. 

The  aforesaid  deputies  shall  be  chosen  in  manner  follow- 
ing: every  person  that  is  present  and  qualified  as  before  ex- 
pressed, shall  bring  the  names  of  such,  written  in  several 
papers,  as  they  desire  to  have  chosen  for  that  employment, 
and  these  three  or  four,  more  or  less,  being  the  number  agreed 
on  to  be  chosen  for  that  time,  that  have  greatest  number  of 
papers  written  for  them  shall  be  deputies  for  that  Court; 
whose  names  shall  be  endorsed  on  the  back  side  of  the  war- 
rant and  returned  into  the  Court,  with  the  constable  or  con- 
stables' hand  unto  the  same. 

8.  It  is  Ordered,  sentenced,  and  decreed,  that  Windsor, 
Hartford,  and  Wethersfield  shall  have  power,  each  Town,  to 
send  four  of  their  Freemen  as  their  deputies  to  every  General 
Court ;  and  whatsoever  other  Towns  shall  be  hereafter  added 
to  this  Jurisdiction,  they  shall  send  so  many  deputies  as  the 
Court  shall  judge  meet,  a  reasonable  proportion  to  the  num- 
ber of  Freemen  that  are  in  the  said  Towns  being  to  be  at- 


THE  FIRST  CONSTITUTION  OF  CONNECTICUT.       I5 

tended  therein;  which  deputies  shall  have  the  power  of  the 
whole  Town  to  give  their  votes  and  allowance  to  all  such  laws 
and  orders  as  may  be  for  the  public  good,  and  unto  which  the 
said  towns  are  to  be  bound. 

9.  It  is   Ordered   and   decreed,   that  the   deputies   thus 
chosen  shall  have  power  and  liberty  to  appoint  a  time  and  a 
place  of  meeting  together  before  any  General  Court,  to  advise 
and  consult  of  all  such  things  as  may  concern  the  good  of  the 
public,  as  also  to  examine  their  own  Elections,  whether  ac- 
cording to  the  order,  and  if  they  or  the  greatest  part  of  them 
find  any  election  to  be  illegal  they  may  seclude  such  for  pres- 
ent from  their  meeting,  and  return  the  same  and  their  rea- 
sons to  the  Court ;  and  if  it  prove  true,  the  Court  may  fine  the 
party  or  parties  so  intruding,  and  the  Town,  if  they  see  cause, 
and  give  out  a  warrant  to  go  to  a  new  election  in  a  legal  way, 
either  in  part  or  in  whole.     Also  the  said  deputies  shall  have 
power  to  fine  any  that  shall  be  disorderly  at  their  meetings, 
or  for  not  coming  in  due  time  or  place  according  to  appoint- 
ment; and  they  may  return  the  said  fines  into  the  Court  if  it 
be  refused  to  be  paid,  and  the  Treasurer  to  take  notice  of  it, 
and  to  escheat  or  levy  the  same  as  he  does  other  fines. 

10.  It  is  Ordered,  sentenced,  and  decreed,   that   every 
General  Court,  except  such  as  through  neglect  of  the  Gov- 
ernor and  the  greatest  part  of  Magistrates  the  Freemen  them- 
selves do  call,  shall  consist  of  the  Governor,  or  some  one 
chosen  to  moderate  the  Court,  and  four  other  Magistrates  at 
least,  with  the  major  part  of  the  deputies  of  the  several  Towns 
legally  chosen;  and  in  case  the  Freemen,  or  major  part  of 
them,  through  neglect  or  refusal  of  the  Governor  and  major 
part  of  the  magistrates,  shall  call  a  Court,  it  shall  consist  of 
the  major  part  of  Freemen  that  are  present  or  their  deputies, 
with  a  Moderator  chosen  by  them :     In  which  said  General 
Courts  shall  consist  the  supreme  power  of  the   Common- 
wealth, and  they  only  shall  have  power  to  make  laws  or  repeal 
them,  to  grant  levies,  to  admit  of  Freemen,  dispose  of  lands 
undisposed  of,  to  several  Towns  or  persons,  and  also  shall 
have  power  to  call  either  court  or  Magistrate  or  any  other 


!6      THE  FIRST  CONSTITUTION  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

person  whatsoever  into  question  for  any  misdemeanor,  and 
may  for  just  causes  displace  or  deal  otherwise  according  to 
the  nature  of  the  offence;  and  also  may  deal  in  any  other 
matter  that  concerns  the  good  of  this  Commonwealth,  except 
election  of  Magistrates,  which  shall  be  done  by  the  whole 
body  of  Freemen. 

In  which  Court  the  Governor  or  Moderator  shall  have 
power  to  order  the  Court,  to  give  liberty  of  speech,  and  si- 
lence unseasonable  and  disorderly  speakings,  to  put  all  things 
to  vote,  and  in  case  the  vote  be  equal  to  have  the  casting  vote. 
But  none  of  these  Courts  shall  be  adjourned  or  dissolved 
without  the  consent  of  the  major  part  of  the  Court. 

ii.  It  is  Ordered,  sentenced,  and  decreed,  that  when  any 
General  Court  upon  the  occasions  of  the  Commonwealth  have 
agreed  upon  any  sum  or  sums  of  money  to  be  levied  upon  the 
several  Towns  within  this  Jurisdiction,  that  a  committee  be 
chosen  to  set  out  and  appoint  what  shall  be  the  proportion  of 
every  Town  to  pay  of  the  said  levy,  provided  the  committee 
be  made  up  of  an  equal  number  out  of  each  Town. 

I4th  January,  1638  [N.  S.,  24th  January,  1639],  the  n 
Orders  abovesaid  are  voted. 


CHARTER 


o  f    t  h  e 


Colony  of  Connecticut 


1662 


Printed  by  Order  of  the  Comptroller 


Note 


[On  the  I4th  of  March,  1661,  the  General  Court  of  Connecticut  voted 
to  petition  the  king  for  the  continuance  and  confirmation  of  such  privi- 
leges and  liberties  as  were  necessary  for  the  comfortable  and  peaceable 
settlement  of  the  Colony. 

Governor  Winthrop  was  requested  to  act  as  the  agent  for  the  Colony. 
He  sailed  from  New  York  in  July,  1661.  The  letter  of  credit  for  £500 
sterling,  which  he  took  with  him,  may  be  seen  in  the  State  Library. 
The  amount  was  paid  in  wheat  and  pease.  He  succeeded  in  procuring 
a  very  liberal  charter,  which  bears  date  April  23d,  1662. 

The  charter  was  made  in  duplicate  and  sent  in  different^  ships.  The 
duplicate  probably  arrived  first,  and  was  received  in  Connecticut  in 
September,  1662.  There  are  some  trifling  verbal  differences  between 
them,  not,  however,  affecting  the  sense. 

In  1687  it  became  evident  that  the  Colony  was  likely  to  be  deprived 
of  the  charter,  and  measures  were  taken  accordingly.  There  is  a  very 
curious  entry  on  the  Colonial  Records  in  June  1687,  of  the  production 
of  the  (original)  charter  in  court,  and  of  its  being  left  on  the  table  with 
the  key  in  the  box  at  the  adjournment  of  the  Court,  with  no  one  re- 
sponsible for  its  safety,  the  committee  which  had  been  appointed  to 
keep  it  being  discharged  by  their  surrendry  of  it  to  the  Court.  Perhaps 
it  was  at  this  time  that  the  charter  was  quietly  taken  by  Nathaniel 
Stanly  and  John  Talcott,  and  concealed  in  the  famous  oak. 

On  the  3ist  of  October,  1687,  Sir  Edmund  Andros  came  to  Hartford 
to  receive  the  surrender  of  the  charter.  The  Assembly  met  and  sat 
late  at  night.  The  duplicate  charter  was  brought  forth  and  placed  on 
the  table.  Suddenly  the  lights  were  extinguished,  and  Captain  Joseph 
Wadsworth  carried  off  and  concealed  the  duplicate,  which  he  retained 
until  1715,  when  the  Assembly  made  him  a  grant  for  his  good  service 
in  the  .matter.  The  one  more  highly  ornamented  than  the  other,  now 
hangs  in  the  Secretary's  office.  What  remains  of  the  second  copy  may 
be  seen  in  the  rooms  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society  at  Hartford. 
How  it  was  saved  from  being  cut  up  to  make  the  foundation  of  a  bonnet 
is  told  in  a  note  in  Vol.  4  of  the  Colonial  Records. 

The  charter  continued  to  be  the  basis  of  our  government  until  it 
was  superseded  by  the  constitution  of  1818.  —  C.  J.  Hoadly.] 

[STATE  LIBRARY,  Aug.  1900.] 


Charter  of  1662 


Cfoarles  tbe  Seconfc,  Bp  tbe  orace  of 
God,  King  of  England,  Scotland,  France 
and  Ireland,  defender  of  the  Faith,  &c.;  Uo 
all  to  whome  theis  prefents  fliall  come, 
Greetinge:  Mbereas,  by  the  feverall  Nav- 
igacons,  difcoveryes  and  fucceffful  Plantacons  of  diverfe 
of  our  loveing  Subjects  of  this  our  Realme  of  England, 
Severall  Lands,  Illands,  Places,  Colonies  and  Plantacons 
have  byn  obtayned  and  setled  in  that  parte  of  the  Con- 
tinent of  America  called  New  England,  and  thereby  the 
Trade  and  Comerce  there  hath  byn  of  late  yeares  much 
increased,  Hut)  IKHbereas,  wee  have  byn  informed  by 
the  humble  Peticon  of  our  Trusty  and  welbeloved 
John  Winthrop,  John  Mafon,  Samuell  Willis,  Henry 
Clerke,  Mathew  Allen,  John  Tappen,  Nathan  Gold, 
Richard  Treate,  Richard  Lord,  Henry  Woolicott.  John 
Talcott,  Daniell  Clerke,  John  Ogden,  Thomas  Wells, 
Obedias  Brewen,  John  Clerke,  Anthony  Haukins,  John 
Deming  and  Mathew  Camfeild,  being  Perions  Principally 
interested  in  our  Colony  or  Plantacon  of  Conedttcutt  in 
New  England,  that  the  fame  Colony  or  the  greatert  parte 
thereof  was  purchafed  and  obteyned  for  greate  and 
valuable  Confideracons,  And  tome  other  part  thereof 
gained  by  Conqueil  and  with  much  difficulty,  and  att 
the  onely  endeavours,  expence  and  Charge  of  them  and 
their  Aflbciates,  and  thofe  vnder  whome  they  Clayme, 
Subdued  and  improved,  and  thereby  become  a  confider- 


20  CHARTER  OF  1662. 

able  enlaigement  and  addicon  of  our  Dominions  and  in- 
tereft  there, — HOW  Kmow  ^ea,  that  in  confideracon  there- 
of, and  in  regard  the  laid  Colony  is  remote  from  other 
the  English  Plantacons  in  the  Places  aforefaid,  And  to 
the  end  the  Affaires  and  Bufines  which  {hall  from  tyme 
to  tyme  happen  or  arife  concerning  the  fame  may  bee 
duely  Ordered  and  mannaged,  IHHee  bave  thought  fitt, 
and  att  the  humble  Peticon  of  the  Perfons  aforesaid,  and 
are  graciously  pleafed  to  Create  and  Make  them  a  Body 
Pollitique  and  Corporate,  with  the  powers  and  Priviledges 
herein  after  menconed ;  And  accordingly  Our  will  and 
pleafure  is,  and  of  our  efpeciall  grace,  certeine  knowledge 
and  meere  mocon,  WCC  bavc  Ordeyned,  Constituted 
and  Declared,  And  by  theis  prelents,  for  vs,  our  heires 
and  Succeffors,  IDOC  Ordeine,  Conftitute  and  Declare 
That  they,  the  said  John  Winthrop,  John  Mafon,  Sam- 
uell  Willis,  Henry  Clerke,  Mathew  Allen,  John  Tappen, 
Nathan  Gold,  Richard  Treate,  Richard  Lord,  Henry 
Woollcot,  John  Talcot,  Daniell  Clerke,  John  Ogden, 
Thomas  Wells,  Obadiah  Brewen,  John  Clerke,  Anthony 
Hawkins,  John  Denning  and  Mathew  Camfeild,  and  all 
fuch  others  as  now  are  or  hereafter  (hall  bee  Admitted 
and  made  free  of  the  Company  and  Society  of  our 
Collony  of  Connecticut  in  America,  (hall  from  tyme  to 
tyme  and  for  ever  hereafter,  bee  one  Body  Corporate  and 
Pollitique  in  fact  and  name,  by  the  Name  of  Governour 
and  Company  of  the  English  Collony  of  Cone&icut  in 
New  England  in  America;  And  that  by  the  fame  name 
they  and  their  Succeffors  (hall  and  may  have  perpetuall 
Succeffion,  and  fhall  and  may  bee  Perfons  able  and  Cap- 
able in  the  law  to  Plead  and  bee  Impleaded,  to  Anfwere 
and  to  bee  Anfwered  vnto,  to  Defend  and  bee  Defended 
in  all  and  iinguler  Suits,  Caufes,  quarrelles,  Matters, 
Accons  and  things  of  what  kind  or  nature  foever,  And 


CHARTER  OF  1662.  21 

alloe  to  have,  take,  poflefle,  acquire  and  purchafe  lands, 
Tenements  or  hereditaments,  or  any  goods  or  Chattells, 
and  the  fame  to  Leafe,  Graunt,  Demife,  Alien,  bargaine, 
Sell  and  difpofe  of,  as  other  our  leige  People  of  this  our 
Realme  of  England,  or  any  other  Corporacon  or  Body 
Pollitique  within  the  fame  may  lawfully  doe.  HttO 
furtber,  that  the  faid  Governour  and  Company,  and 
their  SuccefTors  (hall  and  may  for  ever  hereafter  have  a 
Comon  Scale  to  ferve  and  vfe  for  all  Caufes,  matters, 
things  and  affaires,  whatsoever  of  them  and  their  Suc- 
ceffors,  and  the  lame  Scale  to  alter,  change,  breake  and 
make  new  from  tyme  to  tyme  att  their  wills  and  pleafures, 
as  they  (hall  thinke  fitt.  Hilt)  further,  we  will  and 
Ordeine,  and  by  theis  prefents  for  vs,  our  heires  and 
Succeflbrs  2)06  Declare  and  appoint,  that  for  the  better 
ordering  and  manageing  of  the  affaires  and  bufinefle  of 
the  said  Company  and  their  SuccefTors,  there  shall  bee  one 
Governour,  one  Deputy  Governour  and  Twelve  Affitt- 
ants,  to  bee  from  tyme  to  tyme  Conftituted,  Elected 
and  Chofen  out  of  the  Freemen  of  the  faid  Company  for 
the  tyme  being,  in  fuch  manner  and  forme  as  hereafter  in 
thefe  prefents  is  expreffed;  which  faid  Officers  (hall 
apply  themfelves  to  take  care  for  the  beft  difpoieing  and 
Ordering  of  the  Generall  bufines  and  affaires  of  and  con- 
cerning the  lands  and  hereditaments  herein  after  menconed 
to  bee  graunted,  and  the  Plantacon  thereof  and  the 
Government  of  the  People  thereof.  And  for  the  better 
execucon  of  our  Royall  Pleafure  herein,  W€C  OOC  for  vs, 
our  heires  and  Succeflbrs,  Afligne,  name,  Conftitute  and 
appoint  the  aforefaid  John  Winthrop  to  bee  the  firrt  and 
prefent  Governour  of  the  faid  Company;  And  the  faid 
John  Mafon  to  bee  the  Deputy  Governour;  And  the  faid 
Samuell  Willis,  Mathew  Allen,  Nathan  Gold,  Henry 
Clerke,  Richard  Treate,  John  Ogden,  Thomas  Tappen, 


22  CHARTER  OF  1662. 

John  Talcott,  Thomas  Wells,  Henry  Woolcot,  Richard 
Lord  and  Daniell  Clerke  to  bee  the  Twelve  prefent 
Affiftunts  of  the  laid  Company;  to  contynue  in  the  faid 
feverall  Offices  refpedively,  vntill  the  fecond  Thurfday 
which  {hall  bee  in  the  moneth  of  Odober  now  next 
comeing.  Hn&  further,  we  will,  and  by  theis  prefents 
for  vs,  our  heires  and  Succeffors,  2>oe  Ordaine  and 
Graunt  that  the  Governour  of  the  faid  Company  for  the 
tyme  being,  or,  in  his  abfence  by  occafion  of  iicknes,  or 
otherwife  by  his  leave  or  permiffion,  the  Deputy  Gov- 
ernour for  the  tyme  being,  (hall  and  may  from  tyme  to 
tyme  vpon  all  occanons  give  Order  for  the  aflfembling  of 
the  faid  Company  and  calling  them  together  to  Confult 
and  advife  of  the  bufineffe  and  Affaires  of  the  faid  Com- 
pany, And  that  for  ever  hereafter,  Twice  in  every  yeare, 
That  is  to  fay  on  every  Second  Thurfday  in  October  and 
on  every  Second  Thurfday  in  May,  or  oftener,  in  Case  it 
fhall  bee  requifite,  The  Affiftants  and  freemen  of  the  laid 
Company,  or  fuch  of  them,  not  exceeding  twoe  Perfons 
from  each  Place,  Towne  or  Citty,  whoe  ihall  bee  from 
tyme  to  tyme  therevnto  Elected  or  Deputed  by  the  maior 
parte  of  the  freemen  of  the  refpe6tive  Townes,  Cittyes 
and  Places  for  which  they  (hall  bee  foe  ele&ed  or 
Deputed,  (hall  have  a  generall  meeting  or  Affembly,  then 
and  their  to  Confult  and  advife  in  and  about  the  Affaires 
and  bunnefle  of  the  faid  Company;  And  that  the  Gov- 
ernour, or  in  his  abfence  the  Deputy  Governour  of  the 
faid  Company  for  the  tyme  being,  and  fuch  of  the 
Affiftants  and  freemen  of  the  faid  Company  as  Ihall  be 
foe  Elected  or  Deputed  and  bee  prefent  att  fuch  meeting 
or  Affembly,  or  the  greateft  number  of  them,  whereof  the 
Governour  or  Deputy  Governour  and  Six  of  the  Affift- 
ants at  leaft,  to  bee  Seaven,  ihall  bee  called  the  Generall 
Aflembly,  and  fhall  have  full  power  and  authority  to 


CHARTER  OF  1662.  23 

alter  and  change  their  dayes  and  tymes  of  meeting  or 
Generall  Affemblies  for  Eleding  the  Governour,  Deputy 
Governour  and  Afliftants  or  other  Officers  or  any  other 
Courts,  Affemblies  or  meetings,  and  to  Choofe,  Nominate 
and  appoint  fuch  and  foe  many  other  Perfons  as  they 
(hall  thinke  fitt  and  (hall  bee  willing  to  accept  the  fame, 
to  be  free  of  the  faid  Company  and  Body  Politique,  and 
them  into  the  fame  to  Ad  mitt  and  to  Eleft,  and  Conftitute 
such  Officers  as  they  fhall  thinke  fitt  and  requifite  for 
the  Ordering,  mannageing  and  disposeing  of  the  Affaires 
of  the  faid  Governour  and  Company  and  their  Succeffors. 
Hn£>  wee  t>oe  hereby  for  vs,  our  heires  and  Succeffors, 
Eftablifh  and  Ordeine,  that  once  in  the  yeare  for  ever 
hereafter,  namely,  the  faid  Second  Thurfday  in  May,  the 
Governour,  Deputy  Governour,  and  Affiftants  of  the  faid 
Company  and  other  Officers  of  the  faid  Company,  or 
fuch  of  them  as  the  faid  Generall  Affembly  fhall  thinke 
fitt,  fhall  bee  in  the  faid  Generall  Court  and  Affembly  to 
bee  held  from  that  day  or  tyme  newly  Chofen  for  the 
yeare  enfuing,  by  fuch  greater  part  of  the  laid  Company 
for  the  tyme  being  then  and  there  prefent.  And  if  the 
Governour,  Deputy  Governour  and  Affiftants  by  thefe 
prefents  appointed,  or  fuch  as  hereafter  bee  newly  Chofen 
into  their  Roomes,  or  any  of  them,  or  any  other  the 
Officers  to  bee  appointed  for  the  faid  Company  fliall  dye 
or  bee  removed  from  his  or  their  severall  Offices  or  Places 
before  the  faid  Generall  day  of  Eleccon,  whome  wee  doe 
hereby  Declare  for  any  mifdemeanour  or  default  to  bee 
removeable  by  the  Governour,  Affiftants  and  Company, 
or  fuch  greater  part  of  them  in  any  of  the  faid  publique 
Courts  to  bee  Affembled  as  is  aforefaid,  That  then  and  in 
every  fuch  Cafe  itt  fhall  and  may  bee  lawfull  to  and  for 
the  Governour,  Deputy  Governour  and  Affiftants  and 
Company  aforefaid,  or  fuch  greater  parte  of  them  soe  to 


24 


CHARTER  OF  1662. 


bee  Aflembled  as  is  aforesaid  in  any  of  their  Aflemblies 
to  Proceede  to  a  New  Eleccon  of  one  or  more  of  their 
Company  in  the  Roome  or  Place,  Roomes  or  Places  of 
fuch  Governour,  Deputy  Governour,  Afliftant  or  other 
Officer  or  Officers  soe  dyeing  or  removed,  according  to 
their  difcretions;  and  immediately  vpon  and  after  fuch 
Eleccon  or  Eleccons  made  of  fuch  Governour,  Deputy 
Governour,  Affiftant  or  Affiftants,  or  any  other  Officer  of 
the  faid  Company  in  manner  and  forme  aforefaid,  The 
Authority,  Office  and  Power  before  given  to  the  former 
Governour,  Deputy  Governour  or  other  Officer  and 
Officers  soe  removed,  in  whofe  ftead  and  Place  new  fhall 
be  chofen,  (hall  as  to  him  and  them  and  every  of  them 
respectively  ceafe  and  determine.  {prox>ifcct>,  alfo,  and 
our  will  and  pleafure  is,  That  as  well  fuch  as  are  by  theis 
prefents  appointed  to  bee  the  prefent  Governour,  Deputy 
Governour  and  Affiftants  of  the  faid  Company  as  thofe 
that  sha11  fucceed  them,  and  all  other  Officers  to  bee 
appointed  and  Chofen  as  aforefaid,  fhall,  before  they 
vndertake  the  Execucon  of  their  faid  Offices  and  Places 
refpeftively,  take  their  feverall  and  refpeftive  Corporall 
Oathes  for  the  due  and  faithful  performance  of  their 
dutyes  in  their  feverall  Offices  and  Places,  before  fuch 
Perfon  or  Perfons  as  are  by  thefe  Prefents  hereafter 
appoynted  to  take  and  receive  the  fame;  That  is  to  fay 
the  faid  John  Winthrop,  whoe  is  herein  before  nominated 
and  appointed  the  prefent  Governour  of  the  faid  Com- 
pany, fhall  take  the  faid  Oath  before  one  or  more  of  the 
Mafters  of  our  Court  of  Chancery  for  the  tyme  being, 
vnto  which  Master  of  Chancery  wee  fcoe,  by  theis  pref- 
ents, give  full  power  and  authority  to  Adminifter  the  laid 
Oath  to  the  faid  John  Winthrop  accordingly.  And  the 
faid  John  Mafon,  whoe  is  herein  before  nominated  and 
duely  appointed  the  prefent  Deputy  Governour  of  the 


CHARTER  OF  1662.  25 

laid  Company,  fhall  take  the  {"aid  Oath  before  the  faid 
John  Winthrop,  or  any  twoe  of  the  Affiftants  of  the  laid 
Company,  vnto  whome  wee  fcoe  by  thefe  prefents,  give 
full  power  and  authority  to  Adminifter  the  faid  Oath  to 
the  faid  John  Mafon  accordingly.  Hnt)  the  faid  Samuell 
Willis,  Henry  Clerk e,  Mathew  Allen,  John  Tappen, 
Nathan  Gold,  Richard  Treate,  Richard  Lord,  Henry 
Woolcott,  John  Talcott,  Daniell  Clerke,  John  Ogden 
and  Thomas  Welles,  whoe  are  herein  before  Nominated 
and  appointed  the  prefent  Affiftants  of  the  faid  Company, 
fhall  take  the  Oath  before  the  faid  John  Winthrop  and 
John  Mafon,  or  one  of  them,  to  whome  wee  £>OC  hereby 
give  full  power  and  authority  to  Adminifter  the  fame 
accordingly.  HuD  our  further  will  and  pleafure  is,  that 
all  and  every  Governour  or  Deputy  Governour  to  bee 
Eleded  and  Chofen  by  vertue  of  theis  prefents,  shall  take 
the  faid  Oath  before  two  or  more  of  the  Affiftants  of  the 
faid  Company  for  the  tyme  being,  vnto  whom  wee  doe, 
by  theis  prefents,  give  full  power  and  authority  to  give 
and  Adminifter  the  said  Oath  accordingly.  And  the  faid 
Affiftants  and  every  of  them,  and  all  and  every  other 
Officer  or  Officers  to  bee  hereafter  Chofen  from  tyme  to 
tyme,  to  take  the  faid  Oath  before  the  Governour  or 
Deputy  Governour  for  the  tyme  being,  vnto  which  faid 
Governour  or  Deputy  Governour  wee  doe,  by  theis  pref- 
ents, give  full  power  and  authority  to  Adminifter  the 
fame  accordingly.  Hub  furtbet,  of  our  more  ample 
grace,  certeine  knowledge  and  meere  mocon  wee  bave 
given  and  Graunted,  and  by  theis  prefents,  for  vs.  our 
heires  and  Succeffors,  H)oe  give  and  Graunt  vnto  the  faid 
Governour  and  Company  of  the  English  Colony  of  Co- 
nedicut  in  New  England  in  America,  and  to  every  In- 
habitant there,  and  to  every  Perfon  and  Perfons  Trading 
thither,  And  to  every  fuch  Perfon  and  Perfons  as  are  or 


26  CHARTER  OF  1662. 

lhall  bee  free  of  the  faid  Collony,  full  power  and  author- 
ity from  tyme  to  tyme  and  att  all  tymes  hereafter,  to  take, 
Ship,  Tranfport  and  Carry  away,  for  and  towards  the 
Plantacon  and  defence  of  the  faid  Collony  fuch  of  our 
loveing  Subjects  and  Strangers  as  (hall  or  will  willingly 
accompany  them  in  and  to  their  faid  Collony  and  Planta 
con ;  (Except  such  Perfon  and  Perfons  as  are  or  fhall  bee 
therein  reftrayned  by  vs,  our  heires  and  Succeflbrs ;)  And 
alfoe  to  Ship  and  Tranfport  all  and  all  manner  of  goods, 
Chattells,  Merchandizes  and  other  things  whatfoever 
that  are  or  fhall  bee  vsefull  or  neceflary  for  the  Inhabitants 
of  the  faid  Collony  and  may  lawfully  bee  Tranfported 
thither ;  Neverthelefle,  not  to  bee  difcharged  of  payment 
to  vs,  our  heires  and  Succeflbrs,  of  the  Dutyes,  Cuftomes 
and  Subfidies  which  are  or  ought  to  bee  paid  or  payable 
for  the  same.  But)  furtber,  Our  will  and  pleafure  is,  and 
wee  fcoe  for  vs,  our  heires  and  Succeflbrs,  Ordeyne,  De- 
clare and  Graunt  vnto  the  faid  Governor  and  Company 
and  their  Succeflbrs,  That  all  and  every  the  Subiefts  ot 
vs,  our  heires  or  Succeflbrs  which  (hall  goe  to  Inhabite 
within  the  said  Colony,  and  every  of  their  Children  which 
fhall  happen  to  bee  borne  there  or  on  the  Sea  in  goeing 
thither  or  returneing  from  thence,  fhall  have  and  enioye 
all  liberties  and  Immunities  of  free  and  naturall  Subiedis 
within  any  the  Dominions  of  vs,  our  heires  or  Succeflbrs, 
to  all  intents,  Conftruccons  and  purpofes  whatfoever,  as 
if  they  and  every  of  them  were  borne  within  the  Realme 
of  England.  Silt)  wee  fcoe  authorife  and  impower  the 
Governour,  or  in  his  abfence  the  Deputy  Governor  for 
the  tyme  being,  to  appointe  two  or  more  of  the  faid 
affiftants  att  any  of  their  Courts  or  Aflemblyes  to  bee 
held  as  aforefaid,  to  have  power  and  authority  to  Admin- 
ifter  the  Oath  of  Supremacy  and  obedience  to  all  and 
every  Perfon  and  Perions  which  fhall  att  any  tyme  or 


CHARTER  OF  1662.  27 

tymes  hereafter  goe  or  paffe  into  the  faid  Colony  of  Co- 
ne&icut,  vnto  which  faid  Afilftants  foe  to  be  appointed 
as  aforefaid,  Wee  boe,  by  thefe  prefents,  give  full  power 
and  authority  to  Adminifter  the  faid  Oath  accordingly. 
Hn&  Wee  fcoe  furtber,  of  our  especiall  grace,  certeine 
knowledge  and  meere  mocon,  give  and  Graunt  vnto  the 
faid  Governor  and  Company  of  the  English  Colony  of 
Cone6ticutt  in  New  England  in  America,  and  their 
Succeffors,  that  itt  (hall  and  may  bee  lawfull  to  and  for 
the  Governor  or  Deputy  Governor  and  fuch  of  the  Affift- 
ants  of  the  faid  Company  for  the  tyme  being  as  (hall  bee 
Affembled  in  any  of  the  General  Courts  aforefaid,  or  in 
any  Courts  to  bee  efpecially  Sumoned  or  Affembled  for 
that  purpofe,  or  the  greater  parte  of  them,  whereof  the 
Governor  or  Deputy  Governor  and  Six  of  the  Affiftants, 
(to  be  all  wayes  Seaven,)  to  Ere6t  and  make  fuch  Judi- 
catories  for  the  heareing  and  Determining  of  all  Accons, 
Causes,  matters  and  thinges  happening  within  the  faid 
Colony  or  Plantacon  and  which  (hall  bee  in  difpute  and 
depending  there,  as  they  (hall  thinke  fitt  and  convenient ; 
And  alfoe  from  tyme  to  tyme  to  Make,  Orduine  and 
Eftablifli  All  manner  of  wholfome  and  reafonable  Lawes, 
Statutes,  Ordinances,  Direccons  and  Inftruccons,  not  con- 
trary to  the  lawes  of  this  Realme  of  England,  afwell  for 
fetling  the  formes  and  Ceremonies  of  Government  and 
Mageftracy  fitt  and  neceffary  for  the  faid  Plantacon  and 
the  Inhabitants  there  as  for  nameing  and  Stileing  all  forts 
of  Officers,  both  fuperior  and  inferior,  which  they  (hall 
find  needfull  for  the  Government  and  Plantacon  of  the 
faid  Colony,  and  the  diftinguifliing  and  setting  forth  of 
the  severall  Dutyes,  Powers  and  Lymitts  of  every  fuch 
Office  and  Place,  and  the  formes  of  fuch  Oaths,  not  being 
contrary  to  the  Lawes  and  Statutes  of  this  our  Realme  of 
England,  to  bee  Adminiftred  for  the  Execucon  of  the 


28  CHARTER  OF  1662. 

faid  feverall  Offices  and  Places;  As  alfoe  for  the  dispofe- 
ing  and  Ordering  of  the  Eleccon  of  inch  of  the  faid 
Officers  as  are  to  bee  Annually  Chosen,  and  of  fuch  others 
as  (hall  fucceed  in  cafe  of  death  or  removall,  and  Ad- 
miniftring  the  faid  Oath  to  the  new  Eleded  Officers,  and 
Graunting  neceflary  Comiffions,  and  for  impoficon  of 
lawfull  Fines,  Mulfts,  Imprifonment  or  other  Puniftiment 
vpon  Offenders  and  Delinquents,  according  to  the  Courfe 
of  other  Corporacons  within  this  our  Kingdome  of  Eng- 
land, and  the  fame  Lawes,  fines,  Mul6ts  and  Execucons 
to  alter,  change,  revoke,  adnull,  releafe  or  Pardon,  vnder 
their  Comon  Scale,  As  by  the  faid  Generall  Affembly  or 
the  maior  part  of  them  (hall  bee  thought  fitt ;  And  for 
the  directing,  ruleing  and  difpofeing  of  all  other  matters 
and  things  whereby  our  faid  people,  Inhabitants  thare, 
may  bee  soe  religioufly,  peaceably  and  civilly  Governed 
as  their  good  life  and  orderly  Converfacon  may  wynn  and 
invite  the  Natives  of  the  Country  to  the  knowledge  and 
obedience  of  the  onely  true  God  and  Saviour  of  mankind 
and  the  Chriftian  faith,  which  in  our  Royal  intencons 
and  the  Adventurers  free  profeffion  is  the  onely  and 
principall  end  of  this  Plantacon;  WUUiUCJ,  Commanding 
and  requireing,  and  by  thefe  prefents,  for  vs,  our  heires 
and  Succeflbrs,  Ordaineing  and  appointeing  That  all  fuch 
Lawes,  Statutes  and  Ordinances,  Inftruccons,  Impoficons, 
and  Direccons  as  ftiall  bee  foe  made  by  the  Governor, 
Deputy  Governor,  and  Affiftants,  as  aforefaid,  and  pub- 
liftied  in  writeing  vnder  their  Comon  Scale,  ftiall  care- 
fully and  duely  bee  obferved,  kept,  performed  and  putt 
in  execucon,  according  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of 
the  fame.  Bnfc  thefe  our  letters  Patent,  or  the  Duplicate 
or  Exempli  ficacon  thereof,  ftiall  bee  to  all  and  every  fuch 
Officers,  Superiors  and  inferiors,  from  tyme  to  tyme  for 
the  Putting  of  the  same  Orders,  Lawes,  Statutes,  Ordi- 


CHARTER  OF  1662.  2Q 

nances,  Instructions  and  Direccons  in  due  Execucon,  againft 
vs,  our  heires  and  Succeffors,  a  fufficient  warrant  and  dif- 
charge.  Hnt>  WCC  fcoe  furtber,  for  vs,  our  heires  and 
Succeffors,  give  and  Graunt  vnto  the  laid  Governor  and 
Company  and  their  Succeffors,  by  thefe  prefents,  That  itt 
(hall  and  may  bee  lawfull  to  and  for  the  Cheife  Com- 
manders, Governors  and  Officers  of  the  faid  Company 
for  the  tyme  being  whoe  (hall  bee  refident  in  the  parts  of 
New  England  hereafter  menconed,  and  others  inhabiting 
there  by  their  leave,  admittance,  appointment  or  direccon, 
from  tyme  to  tyme  and  att  all  tymes  hereafter,  for  their 
fpeciall  defence  and  fafety,  to  Affemble,  Martiall,  Array, 
and  putt  in  Warlike  pofture  the  Inhabitants  of  the  faid 
Colony,  and  to  Commiflionate,  Impower  and  authorife 
fuch  Perfon  or  Perfons  as  they  lhall  thinke  fitt  to  lead 
and  Condu6t  the  faid  Inhabitants,  and  to  encounter,  ex- 
pulfe,  repell  and  relift  by  force  of  Armes,  as  well  by  Sea 
as  by  land,  And  alfoe  to  kill,  Slay  and  deftroy,  by  all 
fitting  wayes,  enterprizes  and  means  whatfoever,  all  and 
every  fuch  Perfon  or  Perfons  as  fliall  att  any  tyme  here- 
after Attempt  or  enterprize  the  deftruccon,  invanon,  det- 
riment or  annoyance  of  the  laid  Inhabitants  or  Plantacon, 
And  to  vse  and  exercife  the  Law  Martiall  in  fuch  Cafes 
onely  as  occaffion  fliall  require,  And  to  take  or  furprize 
by  all  wayes  and  means  whatfoever,  all  and  every  fuch 
Perfon  and  Perfons,  with  their  Shipps,  Armour,  Ammu- 
nicon,  and  other  goods  of  fuch  as  fliall  in  fuch  hoftile 
manner  invade  or  attempt  the  defeai/ng  of  the  faid  Plan- 
tacon or  the  hurt  of  the  faid  Company  and  Inhabitants ; 
and  vpon  iust  Caufes  to  invade  and  deftroy  the  Natives 
or  other  Enemyes  of  the  faid  Colony.  1ReY>ertbeles0, 
Our  Will  and  pleafure  is,  And  WCC  &OC  hereby  Declare 
vnto  all  Chriftian  Kings,  Princes  and  States,  That  if  any 
Perfons  which  (hall  hereafter  bee  of  the  faid  Company  or 


30  CHARTER  OF  1662. 

Plantacon,  or  any  other,  by  appointment  of  the  faid  Gov- 
ernor and  Company  for  the  tyme  being,  (hall  att  any 
tyme  or  tymes  hereafter  Robb  or  Spoile  by  Sea  or  by 
land,  and  doe  any  hurt,  violence  or  vnlawfull  hostillity  to 
any  of  the  Subie&s  of  vs,  our  heires  or  Succeffors,  or  any 
of  the  Subiects  of  any  Prince  or  State  beinge  then  in 
league  with  vs,  our  heires  or  Succeflbrs,  vpon  Complaint 
of  fuch  iniury  done  to  any  fuch  Prince  or  State,  or  their 
Subieds,  wee,  our  heires  and  Succeffors,  will  make  open 
Proclamacon  within  any  parts  of  our  Realme  of  England 
fitt  for  that  purpole,  That  the  Perfon  or  Perlons  commit- 
inge  any  fuch  Robbery  or  Spoile,  (hall  within  the  tyme 
lymitted  by  fuch  Proclamacon,  make  full  retlitucon  or 
fatiffaccon  of  all  fuch  iniuries  done  or  committed,  Soe  as 
the  faid  Prince  or  others  foe  complayneing  may  bee  fully 
fatiffied  and  contented.  And  if  the  faid  Perfon  or  Per- 
fons  whoe  fhall  committ  any  fuch  Robbery  or  Spoile 
fliall  not  make  fatiffaccon  accordingly,  within  fuch  tyme 
foe  to  bee  limitted,  That  then  itt  fhall  and  may  bee  law- 
full  for  vs,  our  heires  and  Succeffors,  to  putt  fuch  Perfon 
or  Perfons  out  of  our  Allegiance  and  Proteccon.  And 
that  it  fliall  and  may  bee  lawfull  and  free  for  all  Princes 
or  others  to  Profecute  with  holtility  fuch  Offenders  and 
every  of  them,  their  and  every  of  their  Procurers,  ayders, 
Abettors  and  Councellors  in  that  behalfe. 
alfoe,  and  our  expreffe  will  and  pleafure  is,  Hnfc  wee 
by  thefe  prefents  for  vs,  our  heires  and  Succeffors,  Ordeyne 
and  appointe  that  thefe  prefents  fhall  not  in  any  manner 
hinder  any  of  our  loveing  Subiects  whatfoever  to  vfe  and 
exercife  the  Trade  of  Fifhinge  vpon  the  Coart  of  New 
England  in  America,  but  they  and  every  or  any  of  them 
fhall  have  full  and  free  power  and  liberty  to  contynue 
and  vfe  the  faid  Trade  of  Fifhing  vpon  the  faid  Coast,  in 
any  of  the  Seas  therevnto  adioyning,  or  any  Armes  of  the 


CHARTER  OF  1662.  3r 

Seas  or  Salt  Water  Rivers  where  they  have  byn  accuf- 
tomed  to  Fifti,  And  to  build  and  sett  vpon  the  wast  land 
belonging  to  the  faid  Colony  of  Conecticutt,  fuch 
Wharfes,  Stages  and  workehoufes  as  (hall  bee  neceffary 
for  the  Salting,  dryeing  and  keepeing  of  their  Fifh  to  bee 
taken  or  gotten  vpon  that  Coast, —  any  thinge  in  thefe 
prefents  conteyned  to  the  contrary  notwithftanding. 
HnD  feUOWe  pee  f  urtber,  That  Wee,  of  our  more  abund- 
ant grace,  certaine  knowledge  and  meere  mocon  bave 
given,  Graunted  and  Confirmed,  And  by  theis  prefents 
for  vs,  our  heires  and  Succeffors,  2Doe  give,  Graunt  and 
Confirme  vnto  the  faid  Governor  and  Company  and  their 
Succeffors,  Hll  that  parte  of  our  Dominions  in  Newe  Eng- 
land in  America  bounded  on  the  East  by  Norrogancett 
River,  comonly  called  Norrogancett  Bay,  where  the  laid 
River  falleth  into  the  Sea,  and  on  the  North  by  the  lyne 
of  the  Maffachufetts  Plantacon  and  on  the  South  by  the 
Sea,  and  in  longitude  as  the  lyne  of  the  Maffachufetts 
Colony,  runinge  from  Eaft  to  Weft;  that  is  to  fay,  from 
the  faid  Narrogancett  Bay  on  the  Eaft  to  the  South  Sea 
on  the  Weft  parte,  with  the  Iflands  therevnto  adioyneinge, 
Together  with  all  firrne  lands,  Soyles,  Grounds,  Havens, 
Ports,  Rivers,  Waters,  Fifhings,  Mynes,  Myneralls,  Pre- 
cious Stones,  Quarries,  and  all  and  iinguler  other  Como- 
dities,  lurifdiccons,  Royalties,  Priviledges,  Francheses, 
Preheminences,  and  hereditaments  whatsoever  within  the 
faid  Trad,  Bounds,  lands  and  Iflands  aforefaid,  or  to  them 
or  any  of  them  belonging,  Uo  ba\>e  ano  to  bolo  the  fame 
vnto  the  faid  Governor  and  Company,  their  Succeffors 
and  Aflignes,  for  ever  vpon  Truft  and  for  the  vfe  and 
benefitt  of  themfelves  and  their  Affociates.  freemen  of  the 
faid  Colony,  their  heires  and  Aflignes,  TTO  bee  bolfcen  of  vs, 
our  heires  and  Succeffors,  as  of  our  Manor  of  East  Greene- 
wich,  in  Free  and  Comon  Soccage,  and  not  in  Capite  nor 


CHARTER  OF  1662. 


by  Knights  Service,  H>eil&flt(J  ano  pea^inge  therefore  to 
vs,  our  heires  and  Succeflbrs.  onely  the  Fifth  parte  of  all 
the  Oare  of  Gold  and  Silver  which  from  tyme  to  tyme 
and  att  all  tymes  hereafter  fhall  bee  there  gotten,  had  or 
obteyned,  in  liew  of  all  Services,  Dutyes  and  Demaunds 
whatfoever,  to  bee  to  vs,  our  heires  or  Succeflbrs,  there- 
fore or  thereout  rendered,  made  or  paid.  Bufc  lastly, 
Wee  doe  for  vs,  our  heires,  and  Succeflbrs,  Graunt  to  the 
faid  Governor  and  Company  and  their  Succeflbrs,  by  thefe 
prefents,  that  thefe  our  Letters  Patent  lhall  bee  firme, 
good  and  effectual!  in  the  lawe  to  all  intents,  Conftruccons 
and  purpofes  whatfoever,  accordinge  to  our  true  intent 
and  meaneing  herein  before  Declared,  as  fhall  bee  Con- 
ftrued,  reputed  and  adiudged  moft  favourable  on  the 
behalfe  and  for  the  beft  benefitt  and  behoofe  of  the  faid 
Governor  and  Company  and  their  Succeflbrs,  BltbOUQb 
ejpreSBC  mention  of  the  true  yearely  value  of  certeinty 
of  the  premifes,  or  of  any  of  them,  or  of  any  other  Guilts 
or  Graunts  by  vs  or  by  any  of  our  Progenitors  or  Pred- 
eceflbrs  heretofore  made  to  the  faid  Governor  and  Com- 
pany of  the  Englifh  Colony  of  Cone&icutt  in  New  Eng- 
land in  America  afbrefaid  in  theis  prefents  is  not  made, 
or  any  Statute,  Act,  Ordinance,  Provifion,  Proclamacon  or 
Reftriccon  heretofore  had,  made,  Enacted,  Ordeyned  or 
Provided,  or  any  other  matter,  Cause  or  thinge  whatfo- 
ever to  the  contrary  thereof  in  any  wife  notwithstanding. 
f  n  Witnes  whereof,  we  have  caufed  thefe  our  Letters  to 
bee  made  Patent;  Wftnes  our  Selfe,  att  Weftminfter,  the 
three  and  Twentieth  day  of  Aprill,  in  the  Fowerteenth 
yeare  of  our  Reigne. 
By  writt  of  Privy  Scale. 


Tbe  Constitution 
of  Connecticut 

INCLUDING   all  AMENDMENTS    to   date 
and    excluding    such  parts  as  are   not 
now   in   force,    being  the    COtlfittttlttOtt 
as  it  now  exists   in   legal  effecl:  and  with 
its  original  language  and  arrangement  \f 


fcjj  the  HON.  LEWIS  SPERRY 


Printed  by  Order  of  the  Comptroller 


STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT, 

COMPTROLLER'S  OFFICE, 

HARTFORD,  December,  1901. 

For  the  convenience  of  the  delegates  to  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  of  1902,  and  all  interested  in  the 
study  of  the  present  Constitution,  I  have  printed  this 
compilation. 

Originally  prepared  by  the  Hon.  Lewis  Sperry,  of 
Hartford,  at  the  request  of  Ex-Governor  Morgan  G. 
Bulkeley,  it  is  now  reprinted  from  his  last  edition  by  his 
permission. 

"  So  much  of  the  original  Constitution  and  amend- 
ments as  has  become  obsolete,  either  by  subsequent 
amendment  or  by  limitation,  has  been  stricken  out.  The 
amendments  still  in  force  have  been  written  into  the  Con- 
stitution, in  their  proper  places,  and  the  original  language 
of  the  Constitution,  including  even  capitals  and  punctua- 
tion, has  been  preserved  as  far  as  possible ;  so  that  the 
draft  herewith  presented  is  the  Constitution  of  Connecticut 
not  only  in  legal  effect  but  in  its  exact  form  as  it  now 
exists." 

A.  CHAMBERLAIN, 

Comptroller. 


The 

Constitution  of  Conne&icut. 


PREAMBLE. 

THE  people  of  Connecticut  acknowledging  with  gratitude, 
the  good  providence  of  God,  in  having  permitted  them  to 
enjoy  a  free  government,  do,  in  order  more  effectually  to  de- 
fine, secure,  and  perpetuate  the  liberties,  rights  and  privi- 
leges which  they  have  derived  from  their  ancestors,  hereby, 
after  a  careful  consideration  and  revision,  ordain  and  estab- 
lish the  following  Constitution,  and  form  of  civil  government. 

Article  f  trjtt, 

DECLARATION  OF  RIGHTS. 

That  the  great  and  essential  principles  of  liberty  and  free 
government  may  be  recognized  and  established, 


2Declare, 

SECT.  i.  That  all  men  when  they  form  a  social  compact, 
are  equal  in  right^  and  that  no  man  or  set  of  men  are  en- 
titled to  exclusive  public  emoluments  or  privileges  from  the 
community. 

SECT.  2..  That  all  political  power  is  inherent  in  the  peo- 
ple, and  all  free  governments  are  founded  on  their  authority, 
and  instituted  for  their  benefit;  and  that  they  have  at  all 
times  an  undeniable  and  indefeasible  right  to  alter  their  form 
of  government  in  such  a  manner  as  they  may  think  expedient. 


38  CONSTITUTION   OF  CONNECTICUT. 

SECT.  3.  The  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  religious  pro- 
fession and  worship,  without  discrimination,  shall  forever  be 
free  to  all  persons  in  this  State,  provided  that  the  right  hereby 
declared  and  established,  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  ex- 
cuse acts  of  licentiousness,  or  to  justify  practices  inconsistent 
with  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  State. 

SECT.  4.  No  preference  shall  be  given  by  law  to  any 
Christian  sect  or  mode  of  worship. 

SECT.  5.  Every  citizen  may  freely  speak,  write  and  pub- 
lish his  sentiments  on  all  subjects,  being  responsible  for  the 
abuse  of  that  liberty. 

SECT.  6.  No  law  shall  ever  be  passed  to  curtail  or  re- 
strain the  liberty  of  speech  or  of  the  press. 

SECT.  7.  In  all  prosecutions  or  indictments  for  libels, 
the  truth  may  be  given  in  evidence,  and  the  jury  shall  have 
the  right  to  determine  the  law  and  the  facts,  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  court. 

SECT.  8.  The  people  shall  be  secure  in  their  persons, 
houses,  papers  and  possessions  from  unreasonable  searches 
or  seizures;  and  no  warrant  to  search  any  place,  or  to  seize 
any  person  or  things,  shall  issue  without  describing  them  as 
nearly  as  may  be,  nor  without  probable  cause  supported  by 
oath  or  affirmation. 

SECT.  9.  In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall 
have  the  right  to  be  heard  by  himself  and  by  counsel ;  to  de- 
mand the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation ;  to  be  con- 
fronted by  the  witnesses  against  him;  to  have  compulsory 
process  to  obtain  witnesses  in  his  favour;  and  in  all  prose- 
cutions by  indictment  or  information,  a  speedy  public  trial 
by  an  impartial  jury.  He  shall  not  be  compelled  to  give  evi- 
dence against  himself,  nor  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or 
property,  but  by  due  process  of  law.  And  no  person  shall 
be  holden  to  answer  for  any  crime,  the  punishment  of  which 


CONSTITUTION   OF  CONNECTICUT.  39 

may  be  death  or  imprisonment  for  life,  unless  on  a  present- 
ment or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury;  except  in  the  land  or 
naval  forces,  or  in  the  militia  when  in  actual  service  in  time 
of  war,  or  public  danger. 

SECT.  10.  No  person  shall  be  arrested,  detained  or  pun- 
ished, except  in  cases  clearly  warranted  by  law. 

SECT.  ii.  The  property  of  no  person  shall  be  taken  for 
public  use,  without  just  compensation  therefor. 

SECT.  12.  All  courts  shall  be  open,  and  every  person, 
for  any  injury  done  to  him  in  his  person,  property  or  repu- 
tation, shall  have  remedy  by  due  course  of  law,  and  right  and 
justice  administered  without  sale,  denial  or  delay. 

SECT.  13.  Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  ex- 
cessive fines  imposed. 

SECT.  14.  All  prisoners  shall,  before  conviction,  be  bail- 
able by  sufficient  sureties,  except  for  capital  offenses,  where 
the  proof  is  evident,  or  the  presumption  great ;  and  the  privi- 
leges of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended, 
unless  when  in  case  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety 
may  require  it ;  nor  in  any  case,  but  by  the  legislature. 

SECT.  15.  No  person  shall  be  attainted  of  treason  or 
felony,  by  the  legislature. 

SECT.  1 6.  The  citizens  have  a  right,  in  a  peaceable  man- 
ner, to  assemble  for  their  common  good,  and  to  apply  to 
those  invested  with  the  powers  of  government,  for  redress  of 
grievances,  or  other  proper  purposes,  by  petition,  address  or 
remonstrance. 

SECT.  17.  Every  citizen  has  a  right  to  bear  arms  in  de- 
fence of  himself  and  the  State. 

SECT.  18.  The  military  shall,  in  all  cases,  and  at  all  times, 
be  in  strict  subordination  to  the  civil  power. 


40  CONSTITUTION   OF  CONNECTICUT. 

SECT.  19.  No  soldier  shall,  in  'time  of  peace,  be  quar- 
tered in  any  house,  without  the  consent  of  the  owner;  nor 
in  time  of  war,  but  in  a  manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

SECT.  20.  No  hereditary  emoluments,  privileges,  or 
honors,  shall  ever  be  granted,  or  conferred,  in  this  State. 

SECT.  21.  The  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  remain  in- 
violate. 


Article 

OF  THE  DISTRIBUTION   OF   POWERS. 

The  powers  of  government  shall  be  divided  into  three 
distinct  departments,  and  each  of  them  confided  to  a  separate 
magistracy,  to  wit,  those  which  are  legislative,  to  one;  those 
which  are  executive,  to  another  ;  and  those  which  are  judicial, 
to  another. 

Article  €f>ir&. 

OF  THE  LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT. 

SECT.  i.  The  legislative  power  of  this  State  shall  be 
vested  in  two  distinct  houses  or  branches;  the  one  to  be 
styled  THE  SENATE,  the  other  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTA- 
TIVES, and  both  together  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 
The  style  of  their  laws  shall  be,  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives  in  General  Assembly  convened. 

SECT.  2.  There  shall  be  a  stated  session  of  the  General 
Assembly  to  be  holden  at  Hartford  biennially  on  the  Wednes- 
day following  the  first  Monday  of  the  January  next  succeed- 
ing the  election  of  its  members  as  now  provided  by  law,  and 
at  such  other  times  as  the  General  Assembly  shall  judge 
necessary;  but  the  person  administering  the  office  of  Gov- 
ernor, may,  on  special  emergencies,  convene  the  General 
Assembly  at  said  place  at  any  other  time.  And  in  case  of 
danger  from  the  prevalence  of  contagious  diseases,  in  said 


CONSTITUTION   OF   CONNECTICUT.  4I 

place,  or  other  circumstances,  the  person  administering  the 
office  of  Governor  may,  by  proclamation,  convene  said  As- 
sembly at  any  other  place  in  this  State. 

SECT.  3.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  consist  of 
electors  residing  in  towns  from  which  they  are  elected. 
Every  town  which  now  contains,  or  hereafter  shall  contain 
a  population  of  five  thousand,  shall  be  entitled  to  send  two 
representatives,  and  every  other  one  shall  be  entitled  to  its 
present  representation  in  the  General  Assembly.  The  popu- 
lation of  each  town  shall  be  determined  by  the  enumeration 
made  under  the  authority  of  the  census  of  the  United  States, 
next  before  the  election  of  representatives  is  held.  In  case 
a  new  town  shall  hereafter  be  incorporated,  such  new  town 
shall  not  be  entitled  to  a  Representative  in  the  General  As- 
sembly unless  it  has  at  least  twenty-five  hundred  inhabitants, 
and  unless  the  town  from  which  the  major  portion  of  its 
territory  is  taken  has  also  at  least  twenty-five  hundred  in- 
habitants; but  until  such  towns  shall  each  have  at  least 
twenty-five  hundred  inhabitants,  such  new  town  shall,  for  the 
purpose  of  representation  in  the  General  Assembly,  be  at- 
tached to,  and  be  deemed  to  be  a  part  of,  the  town  from 
which  the  major  portion  of  its  territory  is  taken,  and  it  shall 
be  an  election  district  of  such  town  for  the  purpose  of  repre- 
sentation in  the  House  of  Representatives. 

[The  Senate  of  this  State  shall  consist  of  not  less  than 
eighteen  nor  more  than  twenty-four  members,  and  be  chosen 
by  districts.  The  General  Assembly  (of  1829)  shall  divide  the 
State  into  districts  for  the  choice  of  Senators,  and  shall  de- 
termine what  number  shall  be  elected  in  each,  which  districts 
shall  not  be  less  than  eight,  nor  more  than  twenty-four  in 
number,  and  in  forming  them  regard  shall  be  had  to  the  pop- 
ulation in  said  apportionment  in  such  manner  that  no  county 
shall  have  less  than  two  Senators.]* 


*  The  Constitutional  provision  relating  to  Senators  and  Senatorial 
districts  appears  in  the  amendment  of  1828.  The  remaining  portions 
of  that  amendment  authorize  the  Legislature  to  redistrict  the  State 


42  CONSTITUTION   OF   CONNECTICUT. 

SECT.  4.  From  and  after  the  Wednesday  after  the  first 
Monday  of  January,  1905,  the  senate  shall  be  composed  of 
not  less  than  twenty-four  and  not  more  than  thirty-six  mem- 
bers, who  shall  be  elected  at  the  electors'  meetings  held  bi- 
ennially on  the  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  November. 

SECT.  5.  The  general  assembly  which  shall  be  held  on 
the  Wednesday  after  the  first  Monday  of  January,  1903,  shall 
divide  the  state  into  senatorial  districts,  as  hereinafter  pro- 
vided; the  number  of  such  districts  shall  not  be  less  than 
twenty-four  nor  more  than  thirty-six,  and  each  district  shall 
elect  only  one  senator.  The  districts  shall  always  be  com- 
posed of  contiguous  territory,  and  in  forming  them  regard 
shall  be  had  to  population  in  the  several  districts,  that  the 
same  may  be  as  nearly  equal  as  possible  undgr  the  limita- 
tions of  this  section.  Neither  the  whole  or  a  part  of  one 
county  shall  be  joined  to  the  whole  or  a  part  of  another 
county  to  form  a  district,  and  no  town  shall  be  divided,  un- 
less for  the  purpose  of  forming  more  than  one  district  wholly 
within  such  town,  and  each  county  shall  have  at  least  one 
senator.  The  districts,  when  established  as  hereinafter  pro- 
vided, shall  continue  the  same  until  the  session  of  the  gen- 
eral assembly  next  after  the  completion  of  the  next  census 
of  the  United  States,  which  general  assembly  shall  have  power 
to  alter  the  same,  if  found  necessary  to  preserve  a  proper 
equality  of  population  in  each  district,  but  only  in  accord- 

from  time  to  time  on  the  basis  of  population,  and  provide  the  man- 
ner in  which  districts  shall  be  formed.  The  Legislature  has  acted 
several  times  under  that  amendment,  the  last  time  in  1881,  Revised 
Statutes  of  1888,  Section  197,  when  the  limit  of  twenty-four  Senators 
allowed  by  the  amendment  of  1828  was  reached,  and  the  next  Senate 
will  be  elected  under  that  statute.  The  amendment  adopted  in  1901, 
which  becomes  operative  in  1903,  is  largely  copied  from  the  amend- 
ment of  1828  in  respect  to  the  time  and  manner  in  which  the  State 
may  be  redistricted  by  the  Legislature,  and  the  manner  in  which  dis- 
tricts may  be  formed.  Those  provisions  appear  in  this  compilation 
of  the  Constitution  in  the  second  succeeding  section  [Sec.  5],  but 
have  not  been  inserted  here  because  they  will  apply  to  only  one  more 
election  in  the  districts  as  already  formed,  and  because  to  insert  those 
provisions  here  would  simply  be  repetition. 


CONSTITUTION   OF   CONNECTICUT.  43 

ance  with  the  principles  above  recited;  after  which  said  dis- 
tricts shall  not  be  altered,  nor  the  number  of  senators  altered, 
except  at  a  session  of  the  general  assembly  next  after  the 
completion  of  a  census  of  the  United  States,  and  then  only 
in  accordance  with  the  principles  hereinbefore  provided.  The 
persons  voted  for  for  Senators  shall,  at  the  time  of  such  vote, 
belong  to  and  reside  in  the  respective  districts  in  which  they 
are  so  voted  for. 

SECT.  6.  The  Treasurer,  Secretary,  and  Comptroller,  for 
the  time  being,  shall  canvass  the  votes  publicly.  The  person 
in  each  district  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  sen- 
ator shall  be  declared  to  be  elected  for  such  district:  but  in 
cases  where  no  choice  is  made  by  the  electors  in  consequence 
of  an  equality  of  votes,  the  House  of  Representatives  shall 
designate,  by  ballot,  which  of  the  candidates  having  such 
equal  number  of  votes,  shall  be  declared  to  be  elected.  The 
return  of  votes,  and  the  result  of  the  canvass,  shall  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  also  to  the 
Senate,  on  the  first  day  of  the  session  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly; and  each  house  shall  be  the  final  judge  of  the  election 
returns  and  qualifications  of  its  own  members. 

SEC.  7.  A  general  election  for  Governor,  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  Secretary,  Treasurer,  Comptroller,  and  members 
of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  held  on  the  Tuesday  after 
the  first  Monday  of  November,  biennially,  as  now  provided 
by  law,  and  for  such  other  officers  as  are  herein  and  may  be 
hereafter  prescribed.  The.  General  Assembly  shall  have 
power  to  enact  laws  regulating  and  prescribing  the  order  and 
manner  of  voting  for  said  officers,  and  also  providing  for  the 
election  of  representatives  at  some  time  subsequent  to  the 
Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  of  November  in  all  cases 
when  it  shall  so  happen  that  the  electors  in  any  town  shall 
fail  on  that  day  to  elect  the  representative  or  representatives 
to  which  such  town  shall  be  by  law  entitled. 

SEC.  8.  At  the  general  election  for  State  officers  and 
members  of  the  General  Assembly  the  presiding  officers  shall 


44  CONSTITUTION  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

receive  the  votes  of  the  electors,  which  shall  be  by  ballot, 
either  written  or  printed,  and  count  and  declare  them  in  open 
meeting.  The  presiding  officers  shall  also  make  duplicate 
lists  of  the  persons  voted  for,  and  of  the  number  of  votes  for 
each,  which  shall  be  certified  by  the  presiding  officers ;  one  of 
which  lists  shall  be  delivered  to  the  town  clerk,  and  the  other 
within  ten  days  after  said  meeting,  shall  be  delivered  under 
seal,  either  to  the  secretary,  or  to  the  sheriff  of  the  county 
in  which  said  town  is  situated ;  which  list  shall  be  directed  to 
the  Secretary,  with  a  superscription  expressing  the  purport 
of  the  contents  thereof:  and  each  sheriff,  who  shall  receive 
such  votes,  shall,  within  fifteen  days  after  said  meeting,  de- 
liver, or  cause  them  to  be  delivered,  to  the  Secretary. 

SECT.  9.  The  members  of  the  General  Assembly  shall 
hold  their  offices  for  two  years  from  the  Wednesday  follow- 
ing the  first  Monday  of  the  January  next  succeeding  their 
election,  and  until  their  successors  are  duly  qualified. 

SECT.  10.  The  House  of  Representatives,  when  assem- 
bled, shall  choose  a  speaker,  clerk,  and  other  officers.  The 
Senate  shall  choose  its  clerk,  and  other  officers,  except  the 
President.  A  majority  of  each  house  shall  constitute  a  quo- 
rum to  do  business ;  but  a  smaller  number  may  adjourn  from 
day  to  day,  and  compel  the  attendance  of  absent  members  in 
such  manner,  and  under  such  penalties,  as  each  house  may 
prescribe. 

SECT.  ii.  Each  house  shall  determine  the  rules  of  its 
own  proceedings,  punish  members  for  disorderly  conduct, 
and,  with  the  consent  of  two  thirds,  expel  a  member,  but  not 
a  second  time  for  the  same  cause;  and  shall  have  all  other 
powers  necessary  for  a  branch  of  the  legislature  of  a  free 
and  independent  State. 

SECT.  12.  Each  house  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  pro- 
ceedings, and  publish  the  same,  when  required  by  one-fifth 
of  its  members,  except  such  parts  as,  in  the  judgment  of  a 
majority  require  secrecy.  The  yeas  and  nays  of  the  mem- 


CONSTITUTION   OF   CONNECTICUT.  45 

bers  of  either  house  shall,  at  the  desire  of  one-fifth  of  those 
present,  be  entered  on  the  journals. 

SECT.  13.  The  senators  and  representatives  shall,  in  all 
cases  of  civil  process,  be  privileged  from  arrest,  during  the 
session  of  the  general  assembly,  and  for  four  days  before  the 
commencement,  and  after  the  termination  of  any  session 
thereof.  And  for  any  speech  or  debate  in  either  house,  they 
shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other  place. 

SECT.  14.  The  debates  of  each  house  shall  be  public, 
except  on  such  occasions  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the  house,  may 
require  secrecy. 

SECT.  15.  The  compensation  of  members  of  the  General 
Assembly  shall  not  exceed  three  hundred  dollars  for  the 
term  for  which  they  are  elected,  and  one  mileage  each  way 
for  the  regular  session  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  cents  per 
mile  ;  they  shall  also  receive  one  mileage  at  the  same  rate  for 
attending  any  extra  session  called  by  the  Governor. 

SECT.  16.  Neither  the  General  Assembly,  nor  any 
County,  City,  Borough,  Town,  or  School  District,  shall  have 
power  to  pay  or  grant  any  extra  compensation  to  any  public 
officer,  employe,  agent,  or  servant,  or  increase  the  compen- 
sation of  any  public  officer  or  employe,  to  take  effect  during 
the  continuance  in  office  of  any  person  whose  salary  might  be 
increased  thereby,  or  increase  the  pay  or  compensation  of 
any  public  contractor  above  the  amount  specified  in  the 
contract. 


&rtirfe 

OF   THE   EXECUTIVE   DEPARMENT. 

SECT.  i.  The  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  Secre- 
tary, Treasurer,  and  Comptroller  shall  hold  their  respective 
offices  for  two  years  from  the  Wednesday  following  the  first 
Monday  of  the  January  next  succeeding  their  election,  and 
until  their  successors  are  duly  qualified. 


46  CONSTITUTION   OF   CONNECTICUT. 

SECT.  2.  At  the  meetings  of  the  electors  in  the  respect- 
ive towns  held  biennially  as  herein  provided  for  the  election 
of  State  officers,  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  for 
such  other  officers  as  are  and  may  be  hereafter  prescribed, 
the  presiding  officers  shall  receive  the  ballots  and  shall  count 
and  declare  the  same  in  the  presence  of  the  electors.  When 
such  ballots  shall  have  been  so  received  and  counted,  dupli- 
cate lists  of  the  persons  voted  for,  and  of  the  number  of 
votes  given  for  each,  shall  be  made  and  certified  by  the  pre- 
siding officer,  one  of  which  lists  shall  be  deposited  in  the 
office  of  the  town  clerk  within  three  days,  and  the  other, 
within  ten  days  after  said  election,  shall  be  transmitted  to  the 
Secretary,  or  to  the  sheriff  of  the  county,  in  which  such  elec- 
tion shall  have  been  held.  The  sheriff  receiving  said  votes 
shall  deliver,  or  cause  them  to  be  delivered  to  the  Secretary, 
within  fifteen  days  next  after  said  election.  The  votes  so  re- 
turned shall  be  counted,  canvassed  and  declared  by  the  Treas- 
urer, Secretary,  and  Comptroller,  within  the  month  of  No- 
vember. The  vote  for  Treasurer  shall  be  counted,  canvassed 
and  declared  by  the  Secretary  and  Comptroller  only ;  the  vote 
for  Secretary  shall  be  counted,  canvassed  and  declared  by  the 
Treasurer  and  Comptroller  only;  and  the  vote  for  Comp- 
troller shall  be  counted,  canvassed  and  declared  by  the  Treas- 
urer and  Secretary  only.  A  fair  list  of  the  persons  and  num- 
ber of  votes  given  for  each,  together  with  the  returns  of  the 
presiding  officers,  shall  be,  by  the  Treasurer,  Secretary,  and 
Comptroller,  made  and  laid  before  the  General  Assembly, 
then  next  to  be  holden,  on  the  first  day  of  the  session  thereof. 
In  the  election  for  governor,  lieutenant-governor,  secretary, 
treasurer,  comptroller,  and  attorney-general,  the  person  found 
by  the  general  assembly,  in  the  manner  herein  provided,  to 
have  received  the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  each  of  said 
offices  respectively,  shall  be  declared  by  said  assembly  to  be 
elected.  But  if  two  or  more  persons  shall  be  found  to  have 
an  equal  and  the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  any  of  said 
offices,  then  the  general  assembly,  on  the  second  day  of  its 
session,  by  joint  ballot  of  both  houses,  shall  proceed  without 
debate  to  choose  said  officer  from  a  list  of  the  names  of  the 


CONSTITUTION   OF   CONNECTICUT.  47 

persons  found  to  have  an  equal  and  greatest  number  of  votes 
for  said  office.  The  General  Assembly  shall  by  law  prescribe 
the  manner  in  which  all  questions  concerning  the  election  of 
the  above  named  officers  shall  be  determined. 

SECT.  3.  The  supreme  executive  power  of  the  State  shall 
be  vested  in  the  Governor.  No  person,  who  is  not  an  elector 
of  this  State,  and  who  has  not  arrived  at  the  age  of  thirty 
years,  shall  be  eligible. 

SECT.  4.  The  Lieutenant  Governor  shall  possess  the 
same  qualifications  as  are  herein  prescribed  for  the  Governor. 

SECT.  5.  The  compensations  of  the  Governor  and  Lieu- 
tenant Governor  shall  be  established  by  law,  and  shall  not  be 
varied  so  as  to  take  effect  until  after  an  election,  which  shall 
next  succeed  the  passage  of  the  law  establishing  said  com- 
pensations. 

SECT.  6.  The  Governor  shall  be  Captain  General  of  the 
militia  of  the  State,  except  when  called  into  the  service  of 
the  United  States. 

SECT.  7.  He  may  require  information  in  writing  from  the 
officers  in  the  executive  department,  on  any  subject  relating 
to  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices. 

SECT.  8.  The  Governor,  in  case  of  a  disagreement  be- 
tween the  two  houses  of  the  General  Assembly,  respecting 
the  time  of  adjournment,  may  adjourn  them  to  such  time  as 
he  shall  think  proper,  not  beyond  the  day  of  the  next  stated 
session. 

SECT.  9.  He  shall,  from  time  to  time,  give  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  information  of  the  state  of  the  government, 
and  recommend  to  their  consideration  such  measures  as  he 
shall  deem  expedient. 

SECT.  10.  He  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully 
executed. 


48  CONSTITUTION   OF  CONNECTICUT. 

SECT.  ii.  The  Governor  shall  have  power  to  grant  re- 
prieves after  conviction,  in  all  cases  except  those  of  impeach- 
ment, until  the  end  of  the  next  session  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, and  no  longer. 

SECT.  12.  All  commissions  shall  be  in  the  name  and  by 
authority  of  the  State  of  Connecticut;  shall  be  sealed  with 
the  State  seal,  signed  by  the  Governor,  and  attested  by  the 
Secretary. 

SECT.  13.  Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed  both  houses 
of  the  General  Assembly,  shall  be  presented  to  the  Governor. 
If  he  approves,  he  shall  sign  and  transmit  it  to  the  Secretary, 
but  if  not,  he  shall  return  it  to  the  house  in  which  it  origi- 
nated, with  kis  objections,  which  shall  be  entered  on  the 
journals  of  the  house;  who  shall  proceed  to  reconsider  the 
bill.  If  after  such  reconsideration,  that  house  shall  again 
pass  it,  it  shall  be  sent,  with  the  objections,  to  the  other  house, 
which  shall  also  reconsider  it.  If  approved,  it  shall  become 
a  law.  But  in  such  cases  the  votes  of  both  houses  shall  be 
determined  by  yeas  and  nays ;  and  the  names  of  the  members 
voting  for  and  against  the  bill,  shall  be  entered  on  the  jour- 
nals of  each  house  respectively.  If  the  bill  shall  not  be  re- 
turned by  the  Governor  within  three  days,  Sundays  excepted, 
after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a 
law,  in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it ;  unless  the  General 
Assembly,  by  their  adjournment,  prevents  its  return,  in  which 
case  it  shall  not  be  a  law. 

SECT.  14.  The  Lieutenant  Governor  shall,  by  virtue  of 
his  office,  be  President  of  the  Senate,  and  have,  when  in  com- 
mittee of  the  whole,  a  right  to  debate,  and  when  the  Senate 
is  equally  divided,  to  give  the  casting  vote. 

SECT.  15.  In  case  of  the  death,  resignation,  refusal  to 
serve,  or  removal  from  office  of  the  Governor,  or  of  his  im- 
peachment, or  absence  from  the  State,  the  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor shall  exercise  the  powers  and  authority  appertaining 
to  the  office  of  Governor,  until  another  be  chosen  at  the  next 


CONSTITUTION    OF    CONNECTICUT. 

49 

periodical  election  for  Governor,  and  be  duly  qualified;  or 
until  the  Governor  impeached  or  absent,  shall  be  acquitted 
or  return. 

SECT.  16.  When  the  government  shall  be  administered 
by  the  Lieutenant  Governor,  or  he  shall  be  unable  to  at- 
tend as  President  of  the  Senate,  the  Senate  shall  elect  one  of 
their  members  as  President  pro  tempore.  And  if  during  the 
vacancy  of  the  office  of  Governor,  the  Lieutenant  Governor 
shall  die,  resign,  refuse  to  serve,  or  be  removed  from  office, 
or  if  he  shall  be  impeached,  or  absent  from  the  State,  the 
President  of  the  Senate  pro  tempore,  shall,  in  like  manner, 
administer  the  government,  until  he  be  superseded  by  a  Gov- 
ernor or  Lieutenant  Governor. 

SECT.  17.  If  the  Lieutenant  Governor  shall  be  required 
to  administer  the  government,  and  shall,  while  in  such  ad- 
ministration, die  or  resign  during  the  recess  of  the  General 
Assembly,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary,  for  the  time 
being,  to  convene  the  Senate  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  a 
President  pro  tempore. 

SECT.  18.  The  Treasurer  shall  receive  all  monies  be- 
longing to  the  State,  and  disburse  the  same  only  as  he  may 
be  directed  by  law.  He  shall  pay  no  warrant  or  order  for 
the  disbursement  of  public  money,  until  the  same  has  been 
registered  in  the  office  of  the  Comptroller. 

SECT.  19.  The  Secretary  shall  have  the  safe  keeping  and 
custody  of  the  public  records  and  documents,  and  particu- 
larly of  the  Acts,  Resolutions  and  Orders  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  record  the  same ;  and  perform  all  such  duties 
as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law.  He  shall  be  the  keeper  of  the 
seal  of  the  State,  which  shall  not  be  altered. 

SECT.  20.     The   Comptroller  shall  adjust  and  settle   all 

public  accounts  and  demands,  except  grants  and  orders  of  the 

General  Assembly.     He  shall  prescribe  the  mode  of  keeping 

and  rendering  all  public  accounts.     He  shall  ex  officio  be  one 

4 


>o  CONSTITUTION    OF    CONNECTICUT. 

of  the  auditors  of  the  accounts  of  the  Treasurer.  The  Gen- 
eral Assembly  may  assign  to  him  other  duties  in  relation  to 
his  office,  and  to  that  of  the  Treasurer,  and  shall  prescribe  the 
manner  in  which  his  duties  shall  be  performed. 

SECT.  21.  Sheriffs  shall  be  elected  in  the  several  counties 
quadrennially  on  the  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  of  No- 
vember, as  now  provided  by  law,  and  shall  hold  office  for 
the  term  of  four  years  from  the  first  day  of  June  following 
their  election.  They  shall  become  bound,  with  sufficient  sure- 
ties, to  the  Treasurer  of  the  State,  for  the  faithful  discharge 
of  the  duties  of  their  office,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  law.  They  shall  be  removable  by  the  General 
Assembly.  In  case  the  sheriff  of  any  county  shall  die,  re- 
sign, or  shall  be  removed  from  office  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly, the  Governor  may  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  thereby, 
until  the  same  shall  be  filled  by  the  next  quadrennial  election. 

SECT.  22.  A  statement  of  all  receipts,  payments,  funds, 
and  debts  of  the  State,  shall  be  published  from  time  to  time, 
in  such  manner  and  at  such  periods  as  shall  be  prescribed 
by  law. 


Article 

OF  THE  JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT. 

SECT.  i.  The  judicial  power  of  the  State  shall  be  vested 
in  a  Supreme  Court  of  Errors,  a  Superior  Court,  and  such 
inferior  courts  as  the  General  Assembly  shall,  from  time  to 
time,  ordain  and  establish:  the  powers  and  jurisdiction  of 
which  courts  shall  be  defined  by  law. 

SECT.  2.  The  justices  of  the  peace  for  the  several  towns 
in  this  State  shall  be  appointed  by  the  electors  in  such  towns  ; 
and  the  time  and  manner  of  their  election,  the  number  for 
each  town,  and  the  period  for  which  they  shall  hold  their 
offices,  shall  be  prescribed  by  law.  They  shall  have  such 


CONSTITUTION   OF   CONNECTICUT.  5, 

jurisdiction  in  civil  and  criminal  cases  as  the  General  Assem- 
bly may  prescribe. 

SECT.  3.  The  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Errors 
and  of  the  Superior  Court  shall,  upon  nomination  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, be  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  in  such  man- 
ner as  shall  by  law  be  prescribed.  They  shall  hold  their 
offices  for  the  term  of  eight  years,  but  may  be  removed  by 
impeachment;  and  the  Governor  shall  also  remove  them  on 
the  address  of  two-thirds  of  each  house  of  the  General  As- 
sembly. No  judge  or  justice  of  the  peace  shall  be  capable  of 
holding  office  after  he  shall  arrive  at  the  age  of  seventy  years. 

SECT.  4.  Judges  of  the  Courts  of  Common  Pleas,  and 
of  the  District  Courts,  shall  be  appointed  for  terms  of  four 
years.  Judges  of  the  City  Courts  and  Police  Courts  shall 
be  appointed  for  terms  of  two  years. 

SECT.  5.  Judges  of  Probate  shall  be  elected  by  the  elec- 
tors residing  in  their  respective  districts  at  the  general  elec- 
tion biennially.  They  shall  hold  their  offices  for  two  years 
from  the  Wednesday  after  the  first  Monday  of  the  January 
next  succeeding  their  election. 


Article 

OF  THE  QUALIFICATIONS  OF  ELECTORS. 

SECT.  i.  All  persons  who  have  been,  or  shall  hereafter, 
previous  to  the  ratification  of  this  Constitution,  be  admitted 
freemen,  according  to  the  existing  laws  of  this  State,  shall 
be  electors. 

SECT.  2.  Every  male  citizen  of  the  United  States  who 
shall  have  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  who  shall 
have  resided  in  this  State  for  a  term  of  one  year  next  pre- 
ceding, and  in  the  town  in  which  he  may  offer  himself  to  be 


52  CONSTITUTION   OF   CONNECTICUT. 

admitted  to  the  privileges  of  an  elector,  at  least  six  months 
next  preceding  the  time  he  may  so  offer  himself,  and  shall  be 
able  to  read  in  the  English  language  any  article  of  the  Con- 
stitution or  any  section  of  the  Statutes  of  this  State,  and  shall 
sustain  a  good  moral  character,  shall,  on  his  taking  such  oath 
as  may  be  prescribed  by  law,  be  an  elector. 

SECT.  3.  The  privileges  of  an  elector  shall  be  forfeited 
by  a  conviction  of  bribery,  forgery,  perjury,  duelling,  fraudu- 
lent bankruptcy,  theft,  or  other  offense  for  which  an  infamous 
punishment  is  inflicted.  But  the  General  Assembly  shall 
have  power,  by  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  both 
branches,  to  restore  the  privileges  of  an  elector  to  those  who 
may  have  forfeited  the  same  by  a  conviction  of  crime. 

SECT.  4.  Every  elector  shall  be  eligible  to  any  office  in 
this  State,  except  in  cases  provided  for  in  this  Constitution. 

SECT.  5.  The  selectmen  and  town  clerk  of  the  several 
towns  shall  decide  on  the  qualifications  of  electors,  at  such 
times  and  in  such  manner  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

SECT.  6.  Laws  shall  be  made  to  support  the  privilege  of 
free  suffrage,  prescribing  the  manner  of  regulating  and  con- 
ductinsr  meetings  of  the  electors,  and  prohibiting,  under  ade- 
quate penalties,  all  undue  influence  therein,  from  power, 
bribery,  tumult  and  other  improper  conduct. 

SECT.  7.  In  all  elections  of  officers  of  the  State,  or  mem- 
bers of  the  General  Assembly,  the  votes  of  the  electors  shall 
be  by  ballot. 

SECT.  8.  At  all  elections  of  officers  of  the  State,  or  mem- 
bers of  the  General  Assembly,  the  electors  shall  be  privileged 
from  arrest,  during  their  attendance  upon,  and  going  to,  and 
returning  from  the  same,  on  any  civil  process. 


CONSTITUTION    OF   CONNECTICUT. 

Article 

OF  RELIGION. 

SECT.  i.  It  being  the  duty  of  all  men  to  worship  the 
Supreme  Being,  the  Great  Creator  and  Preserver  of  the  Uni- 
verse, and  their  right  to  render  that  worship,  in  the  mode 
most  consistent  with  the  dictates  of  their  consciences;  no 
person  shall  by  law  be  compelled  to  join  or  support,  nor  be 
classed  with,  or  associated  to,  any  congregation,  church  or 
religious  association.  But  every  person  now  belonging  to 
such  congregation,  church,  or  religious  association  shall  re- 
main a  member  thereof  until  he  shall  have  separated  himself 
therefrom,  in  the  manner  hereinafter  provided.  And  each 
and  every  society  or  denomination  of  Christians  in  this  State, 
shall  have  and  enjoy  the  same  and  equal  powers,  rights  and 
privileges;  and  shall  have  power  and  authority  to  support 
and  maintain  the  ministers  or  teachers  of  their  respective  de- 
nominations, and  to  build  and  repair  houses  for  public  wor- 
ship, by  a  tax  on  the  members  of  any  such  society  only,  to 
be  laid  by  a  major  vote  of  the  legal  voters  assembled  at  any 
society  meeting,  warned  and  held  according  to  law,  or  in  any 
other  manner. 

SECT.  2.  If  any  person  shall  choose  to  separate  himself 
from  the  society  or  denomination  of  Christians  to  which  he 
may  belong,  and  shall  leave  a  written  notice  thereof  with  the 
clerk  of  such  society,  he  shall  thereupon  be  no  longer  liable 
for  any  future  expences  which  may  be  incurred  by  said  so- 
ciety. 

Article 

OF  EDUCATION. 

SECT.  i.  The  charter  of  Yale  College,  as  modified  by 
agreement  with  the  corporation  thereof,  in  pursuance  of  an 
Act  of  the  General  Assembly,  passed  in  May,  1792,  is  hereby 
confirmed. 


54 


CONSTITUTION   OF   CONNECTICUT. 


SECT.  2.  The  fund,  called  the  SCHOOL  FUND,  shall  re- 
main a  perpetual  fund,  the  interest  of  which  shall  be  inviola- 
bly appropriated  to  the  support  and  encouragement  of  the 
public,  or  common  schools  throughout  the  state,  and  for  the 
equal  benefit  of  all  the  people  thereof.  The  value  and  amount 
of  said  fund  shall,  as  soon  as  practicable,  be  ascertained  in 
such  manner  as  the  General  Assembly  may  prescribe,  pub- 
lished, and  recorded  in  the  Comptroller's  office;  and  no  law 
shall  ever  be  made,  authorizing  said  fund  to  be  diverted  to 
any  other  use  than  the  encouragement  and  support  of  public, 
or  common  schools,  among  the  several  school  societies,  as 
justice  and  equity  shall  require. 


Article 

OF  IMPEACHMENTS. 

SECT.  i.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  have  the 
sole  power  of  impeaching. 

SECT.  2.  All  impeachments  shall  be  tried  by  the  Senate. 
When  sitting  for  that  purpose,  they  shall  be  on  oath  or 
affirmation.  No  person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  con- 
currence of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present.  When  the 
Governor  is  impeached,  the  Chief  Justice  shall  preside. 

SECT.  3.  The  Governor,  and  all  other  executive  and  judi- 
cial officers,  shall  be  liable  to  impeachment;  but  judgments 
in  such  cases  shall  not  extend  further  than  to  removal  from 
office  and  disqualification  to  hold  any  office  of  honor,  trust 
or  profit  under  this  State.  The  party  convicted,  shall,  never- 
theless, be  liable  and  subject  to  indictment,  trial  and  punish- 
ment according  to  law. 

SECT.  4.  Treason  against  the  State  shall  consist  only  in 
levying  war  against  it,  or  adhering  to  its  enemies,  giving  them 
aid  and  comfort.  No  person  shall  be  convicted  of  treason, 
unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  the  same  overt 
act,  or  on  confession  in  open  court.  No  conviction  of  trea- 
son, or  attainder,  shall  work  corruption  of  blood  or  forfeiture. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  CONNECTICUT.         -- 


Article 

GENERAL  PROVISIONS. 

SECT.  i.  Members  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  all  offi- 
cers, executive  and  judicial,  shall,  before  they  enter  on  the 
duties  of  their  respective  offices,  take  the  following  oath  or 
affirmation,  to  wit: 

You  do  solemnly  swear,  or  affirm,  (as  the  case  may  be,) 
that  you  will  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  so  long 
as  you  continue  a  citizen  thereof;  and  that  you  will  faith- 
fully discharge,  according  to  law,  the  duties  of  the  office  of 
............  to  the  best  of  your  abilities.  So  help  you  God. 

SECT.  2.  Each  town  shall  annually  elect  selectmen,  and 
such  officers  of  local  police,  as  the  laws  may  prescribe. 

SECT.  3.  No  County,  City,  Town,  Borough,  or  other 
municipality,  shall  ever  subscribe  to  the  capital  stock  of  any 
railroad  corporation,  or  become  a  purchaser  of  the  bonds,  or 
make  donation  to,  or  loan  its  credit,  directly  or  indirectly,  in 
aid  of  any  such  corporation  ;  but  nothing  herein  contained 
shall  affect  the  validity  of  any  bonds  or  debts  incurred  under 
existing  laws,  nor  be  construed  to  prohibit  the  General  As- 
sembly from  authorizing  any  Town  or  City  to  protect  by 
additional  appropriations  of  money  or  credit  any  railroad  debt 
contracted  prior  to  the  amendment  to  the  Constitution, 
adopted  October,  1877. 

SECT.  4.  The  rights  and  duties  of  all  corporations  shall 
remain  as  if  this  Constitution  had  not  been  adopted  ;  with  the 
exception  of  such  regulations  and  restrictions  as  are  con- 
tained in  this  Constitution.  All  judicial  and  civil  officers  now 
in  office,  shall  continue  to  hold  their  offices  until  their  terms 
of  office  shall  expire,  or  until  they  shall  resign,  or  be  removed 
from  office  according  to  law.  All  military  officers  shall  con- 
tinue to  hold  and  exercise  their  respective  offices,  until  their 
terms  of  office  shall  expire  or  until  they  shall  resign,  or  be 


e5        CONSTITUTION  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

removed  according  to  law.  All  laws  not  contrary  to,  or  in- 
consistent with,  the  provisions  of  this  Constitution,  shall  re- 
main in  force,  until  they  shall  expire  by  their  own  limitation, 
or  shall  be  altered  or  repealed  by  the  General  Assembly,  in 
pursuance  of  this  Constitution.  The  validity  of  all  bonds, 
debts,  contracts,  as  well  of  individuals  as  of  bodies  corporate, 
or  the  State,  of  all  suits,  actions,  or  rights  of  action,  both  in 
law  and  equity,  shall  continue  as  if  no  change  had  taken  place. 

SECT.  5.  No  judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  or  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  Errors;  no  member  of  Congress;  no  person 
holding  any  office  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States ; 
no  person  holding  the  office  of  Treasurer,  Secretary,  or 
Comptroller;  no  sheriff  or  sheriff's  deputy,  shall  be  a  mem- 
ber of  the  General  Assembly. 

Article  <£letocntj), 

OF  AMENDMENTS  TO  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

Whenever  a  majority  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
shall  deem  it  necessary  to  alter,  or  amend  this  Constitution, 
they  may  propose  such  alteration  and  amendments;  which 
proposed  amendments  shall  be  continued  to  the  next  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  and  be  published  with  the  laws  which  may 
have  been  passed  at  the  same  session ;  and  if  two-thirds  of 
each  house,  at  the  next  session  of  said  Assembly,  shall  ap- 
prove the  amendments  proposed,  by  yeas  and  nays,  said 
amendments  shall,  by  the  Secretary,  be  transmitted  to  the 
town  clerk  in  each  town  in  the  State ;  whose  duty  it  shall  be 
to  present  the  same  to  the  inhabitants  thereof,  for  their  con- 
sideration, at  a  town  meeting,  legally  warned  and  held  for 
that  purpose;  and  if  it  shall  appear  in  a  manner  to  be  pro- 
vided by  law,  that  a  majority  of  the  electors  present  at  such 
meetings,  shall  have  approved  such  amendments,  the  same 
shall  be  valid,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  a  part  of  this 
Constitution. 


Constitutional 
Reform 

EXTRACT     FROM 

Gov.  McLean's  Message 

To  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY 
January    Session,    1901 


Printed  by  Order  of  the  Comptroller 


Constitutional  Reform 

[Extract  from  Governor  McLean's  Message.] 


I 


Constitution  of  the  State  of  Connecticut, 
like  those  of  her  sister  republics,  always  has 
been,  is  now,  and  always  will  be  complained 
against  by  good  and  patriotic  men. 

The  State  of  Connecticut  is,  however,  by 
the  testimony  of  all  her  loyal  sons,  as  good  a  State  to  live 
in  as  there  is  in  the  Union. 

Many  of  her  blessings  are  due  to  the  wealth  and  variety 
of  her  natural  endowments,  but  many  more  are  due  to  the 
wisdom  of  the  fathers  who  laid  the  foundations  of  her  gov- 
ernment in  the  adamant  of  morality  and  justice. 

For  more  than  two  centuries  the  fundamental  law  of  Con- 
necticut has  been  the  admiration  and  inspiration  of  the  rep- 
resentative republics  of  the  world.  And  if  the  citizens  of 
Connecticut  have  preferred  stability  to  uncertain  change, 
their  choice  has  brought  them  great  prosperity  and  the  repu- 
tation of  being  a  people  of  steady  habits  which,  with  God's 
help,  may  they  long  retain. 

Nothing  is  so  destructive  of  credit  and  the  general  well- 
being  of  society  as  constant  modification  of  fundamental  law, 
and  injustices  in  a  constitution  offending  theory  only  may 
well  be  preferred  to  experimental  attempts  at  impossible 
ideals. 

The  general  plan  of  our  Constitution  in  its  protection 
against  the  wrong  kind  of  liberty  is,  in  the  judgment  of  many, 
better  than  that  possessed  by  any  other  State  in  the  Union. 
I  do  not  say  that  it  is  perfect.  Perfection  is  hard  to  find  in 
temples  made  with  hands. 

We  are  told  that  a  perfect  form  of  government  is  possible, 


60  CONSTITUTIONAL  REFORM. 

and  that  it  will  be  the  one  that  runs  in  exact  harmony  with 
the  immutable  laws  of  Nature.  This  may  be  true,  and  when 
discovered  still  be  unsatisfactory,  for  some  of  the  best  of  us 
will,  I  fear,  always  find  occasion  to  criticise  natural  regula- 
tions. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  need  never  fear  to  remedy  a  man- 
ifest wrong  in  fundamental  law,  if  that  wrong  clearly  affects  a 
majority  of  the  people.  And  the  minority,  however  dearly 
it  may  cherish  the  law  that  causes  that  wrong,  should  remem- 
ber that  the  very  life  of  a  democracy  depends  upon  the  pa- 
triotic obedience  of  all  to  the  will  of  the  majority.  We  must 
expect  to  amend  our  Constitution  for  years,  if  not  for  cen- 
turies to  come.  We  should  be  willing  and  even  glad  to  do 
so  when  natural  causes  that  could  not  be  foreseen  have,  in 
the  course  of  time,  rendered  an  amendment  a  plain  duty. 

In  1639  when  the  State  had  but  three  towns,  each  town 
was  given  four  deputies  to  the  General  Court,  and  it  was 
further  provided  in  the  first  of  written  Constitutions  that  what- 
ever other  towns  should  thereafter  be  added  to  Connecticut, 
"  They  shall  send  so  many  deputies  as  the  Court  should  judge 
meet  a  reasonable  proportion  to  the  number  of  freemen  that 
are  in  the  said  towns  being." 

It  was  then  the  definite  expressed  purpose  of  the  founders 
of  the  State  to  give  to  each  town  such  number  of  deputies  as 
would  be  in  reasonable  proportion  to  the  number  of  free- 
men therein,  and  to  every  town  some  representation.  It  can- 
not be  denied  that  this  apportionment  was  conservative,  wise, 
and  just. 

At  present,  owing  to  a  very  large  increase  in  the  popu- 
lation of  some  towns  and  very  little,  if  any,  in  others,  it  is 
theoretically  possible  for  less  than  twenty  per  cent,  of  the 
people  of  Connecticut  to  elect  a  clear  majority  of  both 
branches  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  so  secure  absolute 
control  of  the  entire  State  government,  and  as  an  adjunct  to 
this  unanticipated  departure  from  the  original  intent  of  the 
founders,  some  towns  having  a  population  of  less  than  500 


CONSTITUTIONAL  REFORM.  fa 

retain  two  representatives,  while  others  having  ten  times  that 
number  are  entitled  to  but  one. 

Some  of  you  may  be  tempted  to  point  to  the  proposed  in- 
crease in  the  Senate  as  fully  satisfying  the  spirit  of  the  Con- 
stitution. I  cannot  see  wherein  this  amendment  can  be 
soberly  considered  as  a  remedy  for  the  real  and  growing  in- 
justice in  the  apportionment  of  the  representation  in  the 
House.  The  Senate  in  name,  purpose,  and  history  is  the 
smaller  and  conservative  body,  and  it  should  in  my  judgment 
remain  such. 

There  are  at  present  eighty-seven  towns  having  two  rep- 
resentatives and  eighty-one  towns  having  but  one.  If  each 
town  is  given  one  representative,  and  there  is  added  to  every 
town  exceeding  a  certain  population  one  representative  for 
each  ten  thousand  or  more  of  such  excess,  you  will  fairly  and 
substantially  remove  the  present  injustice,  and  still  retain 
the  federal  or  territorial  element  in  the  present  Constitution. 

It  is  a  compromise,  but  an  honorable  and  logical  com- 
promise, in  which  the  people  gain  much,  and  the  towns  save 
much  in  retaining  a  privilege  which  to  them  is  an  education 
and  a  dignity  as  dear  and  sacred  as  it  is  conservative  and 
beneficial  to  the  State. 

A  reapportionment  that  would  entirely  deprive  the  smaller 
towns  of  their  individual  representation  would  be  a  radical 
and  complete  departure  from  the  plan  of  the  founders,  and 
I  fear  that  any  attempt  to  secure  such  a  reapportionment 
would  be  as  unsuccessful  as  it  would  be  unwise.  Many  of 
us  still  believe  in  the  little  town  republics.  And  whether 
they  created  the  State  or  the  State  created  them,  they  have 
lived  together  in  harmony  and  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  in 
defense  of  each  other  and  the  State  too  long  to  become  an- 
tagonists now. 

If,  upon  careful  and  unprejudiced  deliberation,  you  be- 
come convinced,  as  I  am  convinced,  that  a  fair  reapportion- 
ment of  the  representation  in  the  co-ordinate  branches  of 
the  General  Assembly  is  due  to  and  greatly  desired  by  a  large 


62  CONSTITUTIONAL  REFORM. 

majority  of  the  people  of  Connecticut,  the  manner  in  which 
the  Constitution  shall  be  altered  to  allow  such  reapportion- 
ment  will  be  of  next  importance. 

You  will  hear  much  about  the  necessity  of  a  constitutional 
convention  from  many  zealous  and  farseeing  men,  but  I  cau- 
tion you  that  in  adopting  this  plan  you  would  open  the  door 
to  guest  and  stranger  alike  and  throw  the  key  away.  I  can 
see  no  argument  in  favor  of  this  irregular,  expensive,  and 
wide-open  policy  but  that  of  speed.  It  is  cutting  across  lots 
in  the  dark  with  many  ditches  to  avoid,  and  some  of  us  were 
wisely  taught  by  our  fathers  that  "  the  longest  way  around  is 
the  shortest  way  home."  There  is  ability  enough  and  to 
spare  in  this  Assembly  to  compile,  if  thought  best,  the  nine- 
teen pages  of  our  present  Constitution,  save  the  living  pro- 
visions, and  add  thereto  such  changes  as  you  may  approve. 

The  Constitution  so  compiled  and  amended  would  be 
printed  with  the  laws  enacted  by  you  and  freely  circulated 
and  discussed  during  the  next  two  years,  and  when  finally 
submitted  to  the  people  it  could  be  voted  for  intelligently  and 
without  fear  of  hidden  flaw  or  deception. 

It  should  also  be  remembered  that  most  of  the  vital  pro- 
visions in  our  present  Constitution  have  been  judicially  con- 
strued by  our  Supreme  Court,  and  any  change  in  the  text, 
however  slight,  might  entail  much  hardship,  uncertainty, 
and  expensive  litigation. 

In  view  of  the  large  number  of  self-professed  experts  in 
constitutional  surgery  who,  anticipating  the  pleasures  of  un- 
restricted vivisection,  have  already  provided  themselves  with 
knife  and  antiseptic,  you  will,  in  my  judgment,  serve  and 
please  the  people  best  by  permitting  the  use  of  such  reme- 
dies only  as  may  be  necessary  to  preserve  the  vigor  and  spirit 
of  the  trusted  guardian  of  the  people's  rights. 

The  proposal  to  require  the  election  of  County  Commis- 
sioners by  the  people,  and  all  similar  tilting  for  party  advan- 
tage, have  no  place  in  this  discussion,  and  should  in  my 
opinion  occupy  but  little  of  your  time.  The  Constitution  is 
a  limitation  and  should  never  be  made  a  code. 


CONSTITUTIONAL  REFORM.  £3 

If  any  change  is  needed  in  the  manner  of  choosing  County 
Commissioners  or  the  Judges  of  our  minor  courts,  it  does 
not,  I  think,  lie  in  the  direction  of  the  town  caucus. 

The  amendment  now  pending  which  provides  for  plurality 
election  of  State  officers,  although  clearly  undemocratic  in 
theory,  is  abundantly  approved  by  precedent  and  experience, 
and  until  some  plan  is  devised  whereby  a  majority  can  ex- 
press its  choice  at  one  poll  it  will  be  more  satisfactory  than 
the  present  ultra  conservative  method. 

As  a  possible  help  to  a  clear  understanding  of  the  history 
and  purpose  of  our  Constitution  and  the  present  need  of  a 
change  in  the  apportionment  of  the  representation  in  the 
General  Assembly,  I  recommend  that  each  member  be  sup- 
plied with  a  copy  of  Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull's  Historical 
Notes  on  the  Constitutions  of  Connecticut,  printed  by  order 
of  the  Legislature  in  1873. 


Amendments  to 
the  Constitution 

CONCERNING    REPRESENTATION 

Proposed  to  and  Rejected  by 
the  General  Assembly,  1901 


Printed  by  Order  of  the  Comptroller 


IRCSOlUtiOtl  Proposing  an  Amendment 
to  the  Constitution  concerning  the 
Number  of  Members  of  the  House 
of  Representatives. 

GENERAL  ASSEMBLY, 
JANUARY  SESSION,  A.D.  1901. 
Resolved  by  this  House: 

That  the  following  be  proposed  as  an  amendment  to  the 
constitution  of  this  state,  which,  when  approved  and  adopted 
in  the  manner  provided  by  the  constitution,  shall,  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes,  become  a  part  thereof,  to  wit : 

SECTION  i.  The  house  of  representatives  shall  consist 
of  electors  residing  in  the  towns  from  which  they  are  elected. 
Every  town  having  less  than  twenty-five  hundred  inhabitants 
shall  be  entitled  to  send  one  representative  to  the  general 
assembly ;  every  town  having  twenty-five  hundred  inhabitants 
shall  be  entitled  to  send  two  representatives,  and  every  town 
having  a  greater  number  of  inhabitants  shall  be  entitled  to 
send  one  additional  representative  for  each  twenty  thousand 
inhabitants  in  excess  of  twenty-five  hundred.  The  population 
of  each  town  shall  be  determined  by  the  enumeration  made 
under  the  authority  of  the  census  of  the  United  States,  next 
before  the  election  of  representatives  is  held,  and  when  once 
determined  the  number  of  representatives  shall  not  be  changed 
until  after  the  enumeration  made  under  authority  of  the  next 
succeeding  census  of  the  United  States. 

SEC.  2.     The  general  assembly  which  shall  be  held  on  the 


68  PROPOSED  AMENDMENTS. 

Wednesday  after  the  first  Monday  of  January,  A.D.  1905, 
shall  divide  each  town  entitled  to  more  than  two  representa- 
tives into  districts,  and  one  representative  shall  be  chosen 
from  each  district.  Such  districts  shall  always  be  composed 
of  contiguous  territory  and  shall  contain  as  nearly  as  prac- 
ticable an  equal  number  of  inhabitants.  Such  districts,  when 
established  as  herein  provided,  shall  continue  the  same  until 
the  session  of  the  general  assembly  next  after  the  next  suc- 
ceeding census  of  the  United  States,  which  general  assembly 
shall  have  power  to  increase  or  reduce  the  number  of  dis- 
tricts in  any  town  according  to  the  principles  above  prescribed, 
and  to  alter  such  districts  when  necessary  to  preserve  a  proper 
equality  of  population  therein. 

SEC.  3.  The  provisions  of  article  XVIII  of  the  amend- 
ments to  the  constitution  respecting  the  representation  of  new 
towns  shall  remain  in  full  force  and  effect. 

Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  proposed  amendment  to  the 
constitution  be  continued  to  the  next  session  of  the  general 
assembly,  and  be  published  with  the  laws  passed  at  the  pres- 
ent session. 

[House  Resolution  No.  25.] 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 

JANUARY  SESSION,  1901. 
Resolved  by  this  House: 

That  the  following  be  proposed  as  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  of  this  State,  which,  when  approved  and  adopted 
in  the  manner  provided  by  the  Constitution,  shall  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes  become  a  part  thereof. 

Any  town  in  this  State  having  a  less  population  than  five 
thousand,  by  the  last  previous  census  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  hereafter  entitled  to  only  one  representative  in  the 
House.  Towns  having  a  population  of  five  thousand  or 
more  shall  each  be  entitled  to  two  representatives.  Towns, 
or  towns  including  cities,  having  a  greater  population  than 
ten  thousand  by  the  last  previous  census  shall  be  entitled  to 


PROPOSED  AMENDMENTS. 


69 


one  additional  representative  in  the  House  for  each  addi- 
tional ten  thousand  of  population  or  a  greater  fraction  thereof, 
according  to  said  census.  The  General  Assembly  shall  pro- 
vide for  the  election  of  all  representatives  in  such  towns  hav- 
ing a  greater  number  than  two  representatives  by  districts, 
and  shall  prescribe  by  law  the  division  of  such  towns  or  cities 
into  districts,  which  districts  shall  be  composed  of  contiguous 
territory,  and  as  nearly  equal  in  population  as  practicable. 

Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  proposed  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  be  continued  to  the  next  session  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  be  published  with  the  laws  passed  at  the  pres- 
ent session. 

[House  Resolution  No.  42.] 

STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT, 
GENERAL  ASSEMBLY, 

JANUARY  SESSION,  A.D.  1901. 


Proposing  an  Amendment 
to  the  Constitution  concerning  Rep- 
resentation. 

Resolved  by  this  House: 

That  the  following  be  proposed  as  an  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  of  this  State,  which,  when  approved  and  adopted 
in  the  manner  provided  by  the  Constitution,  shall  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes  become  a  part  thereof. 

Hereafter  no  town  having  less  than  twenty-five  hundred 
inhabitants,  as  determined  by  the  enumeration  made  under 
the  authority  of  the  census  of  the  United  States  next  before 
the  election  of  representatives  is  held,  shall  be  entitled  to  more 
than  one  representative. 

Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  proposed  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  be  continued  to  the  next  session  of  the  General 
Assembly  and  be  published  with  the  laws  passed  at  the  pres- 
ent session. 


Constitutional 
Reform 

SPECIAL    MESSAGE 

of  His  Excellency 

Gov.  GEORGE  P.  MCLEAN 


TO    THE 


General  Assembly  of  1901 


Printed  by  Order  of  the  Comptroller 


CONSTITUTIONAL  REFORM.  73 


[Reprinted  from  House  Journal  of  June  10,  1901.] 

STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT, 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 

HARTFORD,  June  10,  1901. 

To  the  Honorable  General  Assembly: 

I  AM  informed  that  your  committee  on  Constitutional 
Amendments  has  reported  to  your  honorable  body  a 
resolution  providing  for  a  Constitutional  Convention 
in  the  event  such  convention  is  approved  by  the  elec- 
tors of  Connecticut.  In  my  suggestions  upon  this  subject 
communicated  to  your  honorable  body  at  the  opening  of  its 
session,  I  opposed  this  method  of  amending  our  Constitution. 
Since  that  time  a  candid  and  earnest  effort  has  been  made  to 
secure  in  the  definite  way  provided  by  the  Constitution  a  re- 
apportionment  of  the  membership  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives upon  a  rational,  conservative  basis  most  liberal  to 
the  small  communities.  This  effort  has  failed.  I  now  con- 
sider it  my  duty  to  myself  to  inform  you  that  I  look  upon  a 
Constitutional  Convention  as  far  less  dangerous  to  the  system 
of  town  representation  and  the  good  of  the  State  than  would 
be  continued  failure  to  give  this  matter  the  favorable  con- 
sideration it  deserves  before  your  final  adjournment.  As  a 
citizen  of  a  town  of  less  than  2,500  inhabitants,  and  a  firm 
believer  in  town  representation  as  established  by  the  founders 
of  our  government,  I  am  convinced  that  we  cannot  too  soon 
indicate  our  determination  to  treat  this  all-important  subject 
fairly  and  fearlessly  if  we  desire  to  merit  and  preserve  the 
confidence  and  support  of  the  people  of  Connecticut.  If  the 
small  towns  ever  lose  their  right  of  representation  in  the 
General  Assemblv  it  will  be  due  to  their  own  refusal  to  so 
exercise  that  right  that  it  can  be  defended  by  its  best  friends. 

GEORGE  P.  McLEAN, 

Governor. 


ACT 

Providing  for  the  Calling  of  a 
Constitutional   Convention 


General  Assembly 
1901 


Printed  by  Order  of  the   Comptroller 


Call 

• 

for  a   Constitutional   Convention 


[House  Bill  No.  95.] 
CHAPTER  146. 

Hct  to  Provide  for  the  Calling  of  a 
Constitutional   Convention. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in 
General  Assembly  convened: 

SECTION  i.  The  question  is  hereby  submitted  to  the 
electors  of  this  state  whether  a  convention  shall  or  shall  not 
be  called  for  the  purpose  of  framing,  in  the  manner  and  under 
the  limitations  and  restrictions  of  this  act,  a  form  of  a  con- 
stitution for  the  state  of  Connecticut  to  be  proposed  to  the 
electors  of  this  state  for  their  adoption  or  rejection.  The  an- 
nual town  meetings  which  shall  be  held  in  the  several  towns 
of  this  state  and  in  the  several  voting  districts  of  those  towns 
which  are  divided  into  voting  districts,  on  the  first  Monday  of 
October,  1901,  for  the  election  of  town  officers,  shall  also  be 
held  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  said  question,  and  in  those 
towns  of  this  state  and  in  the  several  voting  districts  of  those 
towns  which  are  divided  into  voting  districts,  which  do  not 
hold  their  annual  town  meetings  for  the  election  of  town 
officers  on  the  first  Monday  of  October,  there  shall  be  special 
town  meetings  on  said  first  Monday  of  October,  1901,  for  the 
purpose  of  deciding  said  question,  and  notice  that  said  ques- 
tion shall  be  voted  upon  shall  be  given  in  the  warnings  of 
said  annual  and  said  special  town  meetings. 


78         CALL  FOR  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION. 

SEC.  2.  The  ballots  to  be  used  in  voting  whether  said 
convention  shall  or  shall  not  be  called  in  addition  to  the  offi- 
cial endorsement  shall  contain  only  the  words  "  Constitu- 
tional Convention,  Yes,"  or  "  Constitutional  Convention, 
No,"  and  shall  be  furnished  by  the  secretary  of  the  state 
printed  ready  for  use  in  the  same  manner  as  provided  in 
chapter  CCXIII  of  the  public  acts  of  1897,  and  shall  be  of 
uniform  size,  quality,  color,  thickness,  and  style  of  printing 
for  each  ballot,  to  be  determined  by  the  secretary.  The  bal- 
lots for  and  against  the  calling  of  said  convention  shall  be 
placed  in  the  same  official  envelope  with  ballots  for  town 
officers. 

SEC.  3.  Said  ballots  shall  be  distributed,  voted,  counted, 
canvassed,  and  the  result  of  such  vote  in  each  town  and  voting 
district  declared  and  returned  to  the  secretary  of  the  state  in 
the  same  manner,  by  the  same  officers,  and  within  the  same 
time  after  election  as  is  by  law  provided  in  the  case  of  the 
votes  for  governor,  and  the  said  votes  shall  be  canvassed  by 
the  secretary,  treasurer,  and  comptroller  at  the  capitol  in 
Hartford  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  November,  1901,  and 
the  result  shall  within  five  days  thereafter  be  certified  by  them 
or  a  majority  of  them  to  the  governor,  who  shall  forthwith 
issue  his  proclamation  declaring  that  said  convention  has  or 
has  not  been  called  by  said  electors  as  it  shall  appear  from  said 
certificate  of  the  secretary,  treasurer,  and  comptroller,  or  a 
majority  of  them.  Provided  that  it  shall  be  ascertained  in  the 
manner  hereinbefore  provided  that  said  convention  has  been 
called  by  the  electors  of  this  state,  the  governor  shall  call  a 
special  election  to  be  held  on  the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first 
Monday  of  November,  1901,  for  the  purpose  of  electing  dele- 
gates to  such  convention,  and  notice  that  said  delegates  are 
to  be  elected  shall  be  given  in  the  warning  of  said  special 
election. 

SEC.  4.  The  said  constitutional  convention  shall  consist 
of  one  delegate  to  said  convention  from  each  town  in  the 
state,  and  at  said  special  election  held  as  aforesaid  there  shall 
be  chosen,  in  the  same  manner  as  representatives  to  the  gen- 


CALL  FOR  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION.         79 

eral  assembly  are  now  chosen,  one  delegate  to  said  conven- 
tion from  each  town,  and  said  delegate  shall  possess  the  same 
qualifications  now  required  for  a  representative  in  the  gen- 
eral assembly. 

SEC.  5.  The  ballots  to  be  used  in  the  election  of  said 
delegates  shall  be  issued,  printed,  distributed,  cast,  counted, 
and  declared  in  the  same  manner,  by  the  same  officers,  and  at 
the  same  time  with  reference  to  said  election  as  is  now  pro- 
vided by  law  in  the  case  of  votes  for  representatives  in  the 
general  assembly,  and  the  ballots  for  delegates  voted  to  said 
convention  shall  be  placed  in  the  same  official  envelope. 

SEC.  6.  The  said  delegates  shall  meet  in  convention  at 
the  capitol  in  Hartford  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  January 
next  succeeding  their  election.  They  shall  choose  one  of 
their  number  to  be  their  president,  and  they  may  appoint  such 
other  officers  as  they  may  deem  necessary  for  the  convenient 
transaction  of  their  business,  and  they  may  determine  what 
shall  be  the  duties  and  compensation  of  such  other  officers 
respectively.  Said  convention  shall  be  the  final  judge  of  the 
election  returns  and  qualifications  of  its  own  number,  and 
shall  cause  a  record  of  its  proceedings  to  be  duly  kept,  and 
shall  have  power  to  make  all  rules  and  regulations  not  in- 
consistent with  this  act  which  said  convention  may  deem 
necessary  for  its  own  government  or  for  the  proper  transac- 
tion of  its  business.  A  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  said 
delegates  duly  elected  and  sworn  shall  be  necessary  to  con- 
stitute a  quorum  for  the  transaction  of  any  of  the  business 
of  said  convention,  but  a  smaller  number  may  adjourn  from 
day  to  day. 

SEC.  7.  Said  convention  shall  frame  under  and  in  accord- 
ance with  the  limitations  and  restrictions  of  this  act  a  form 
of  constitution  for  this  state  to  be  submitted  to  the  electors 
of  this  state  for  approval  or  disapproval  in  the  manner  which 
said  convention  may  prescribe. 

SEC.  8.  Said  convention  shall  not  have  power  to  em- 
body and  shall  not  embody  in  said  proposed  constitution,  or 
in  any  article  to  be  separately  submitted  as  aforesaid,  any  pro- 


80         CALL  FOR  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION. 

vision  whereby,  if  said  constitution  or  article  should  be 
adopted,  any  town  may  or  can  cease  to  exist  as  a  separate 
town;  provided,  however,  that  nothing  herein  contained  shall 
prevent  said  convention,  if  it  shall  see  fit  to  do  so,  from 
making  provision  whereby  any  town  having  a  city  within  its 
limits  may  be  merged  into  such  city  so  that  such  city  may 
stand  in  the  place  of  such  town  and  become  vested  with  all 
the  powers,  rights,  and  functions  of  such  town. 

SEC.  9.  Said  convention  shall  not  have  any  power  to 
embody  and  shall  not  embody  in  said  proposed  constitution 
or  in  any  such  separate  article  or  articles  any  provision  or 
provisions  whereby  any  town  can  cease  to  have  at  any  time 
at  least  one  representative  in  the  house  of  representatives. 

SEC.  10.  Said  convention  shall  not  have  power  to  em- 
body and  shall  not  embody  in  said  proposed  constitution  or 
in  any  such  separate  article  or  articles  any  provision  or  pro- 
visions whereby  any  representatives  in  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives shall  or  may  be  elected  otherwise  than  by  towns, 
each  town  to  have,  as  now,  the  right  of  electing  its  own  rep- 
resentative or  representatives ;  provided,  however,  that  not- 
withstanding anything  in  this  act  contained,  said  convention 
may  make  in  said  constitution  provision  whereby  any  city, 
into  which  the  town  in  which  it  is  situated  shall  have  been 
merged,  may  acquire  with  the  other  rights  of  said  town  the 
right  of  electing  a  representative  or  representatives  instead  of 
said  town ;  and  provided  further,  that  said  convention  may 
make  in  said  constitution  provision  whereby  any  town  or  city 
entitled  to  two  or  more  representatives  may  be  divided  into 
representative  districts  equal  in  number  to  its  representatives 
and  each  entitled  to  elect  one  representative,  and  no  more. 

SEC.  ii.  Every  delegate  to  the  convention  shall,  before 
entering  upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  make  solemn  oath  or 
affirmation  that  he  will  faithfully  discharge  the  duties  of  said 
office  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 

SEC.  12.  The  form  of  constitution  which  shall  be  framed 
by  said  convention  as  aforesaid  shall  be  submitted  to  the 
electors  of  this  state  for  their  adoption  or  rejection  at  electors' 


CALL  FOR  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION.         8 1 

meetings  which  shall  be  held  in  the  several  towns  upon  some 
day  to  be  designated  by  said  convention,  which  day  shall  be 
not  less  than  one  month  and  not  more  than  three  months 
subsequent  to  the  final  adjournment  of  said  convention.  The 
secretary  of  state  shall  cause  such  proposed  constitution  to 
be  published  before  the  holding  of  said  meetings  within  such 
times  and  in  such  manner  as  said  convention  shall  prescribe. 
Said  constitution,  if  so  adopted,  shall  go  into  effect  at  such 
time  as  shall  be  fixed  by  its  own  express  terms  for  that  pur- 
pose; or  if  no  such  time  shall  be  fixed  therein  for  that  pur- 
pose, then  at  such  time  as  said  convention  shall  by  separate 
resolution  have  designated.  The  votes  at  said  electors'  meet- 
ings shall  be  duly  canvassed  by  the  same  officials  in  the  same 
manner  and  within  the  same  time  as  votes  returned  as  cast 
for  representatives  in  congress  are  now  canvassed.  The  re- 
sult of  said  canvass  of  said  votes  shall  be  duly  certified  by 
said  canvassers,  without  delay,  to  the  •  governor,  who  shall 
thereupon  publicly  declare  said  result  by  his  proclamation. 

SEC.  13.  All  electors'  meetings  provided  for  by  this  act 
shall  be  warned  and  held  in  the  same  manner  in  which  elec- 
tors' meetings  for  the  election  of  state  officers  and  representa- 
tives are  warned  and  held,  and  all  laws  regulating  the  modes 
of  procedure  at  meetings  for  the  election  of  state  officers  and 
members  of  the  general  assembly,  and  all  laws  relating  to 
illegal  voting,  and  all  other  laws  relating  to  electors  and  elec- 
tions, so  far  as  such  laws  are  in  their  nature  applicable  to  the 
electors'  meetings  and  proceedings  provided  for  by  this  act, 
shall  apply  to  the  electors'  meetings  and  proceedings  pro- 
vided for  by  this  act,  so  far  as  said  laws  are  not  inconsistent 
with  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

SEC.  14.  The  members  of  said  convention  shall  have  the 
same  privileges  from  arrest  and  immunity  for  speech  as  is 
given  to  the  members  of  the  general  assembly  by  section  10, 
article  III,  of  the  constitution  of  this  state. 

SEC.  15.  The  compensation  of  said  delegates  shall  be 
such  as  shall  be  hereafter  established  by  law.  Said  conven- 
tion may  make  out  its  debentures  according  to  law,  and  may 


82         CALL  FOR  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION. 

make  the  grants  necessary  and  proper  to  cover  its  contingent 
expenses,  which  being  duly  registered  in  the  comptroller's 
office,  shall  be  paid  by  the  treasurer. 

SEC.  16.  All  acts  and  parts  of  acts  inconsistent  with  this 
act  are  hereby  repealed  so  far  as  relates  to  the  carrying  out 
of  the  purposes  of  this  act,  otherwise  to  remain  in  full  force 
and  effect. 

Approved,  June  14,  1901. 


proclamation 

OF  HIS  EXCELLENCT 

GEORGE    P.    McLEAN 

Governor  of  Connecticut 


Calling  for  Election  of   Delegates  to  the 
CONSTITUTIONAL    CONVENTION 

0  F 


Printed  by   Older  of  ike   Comptroller 


By  his  Excellency  GEORGE  P. 
McLEAN,  Governor  of  the 
State  of  Connecticut 

a  proclamation 


WHEREAS,  in  pursuance  of  Chapter  146  of  the  Public 
Acts  of  1901,  it  being  "  An  Act  to  provide  for  the  Calling  of 
a  Constitutional  Convention,"  the  question  was  submitted  to 
the  electors  of  this  State  at  their  meetings  held  in  the  several 
towns  in  this  State  on  the  first  Monday  in  October,  1901, 
"  Whether  a  convention  shall,  or  shall  not,  be  called  for  the 
purpose  of  framing,  in  the  manner  and  under  the  limitations 
and  restrictions  of  this  act,  a  form  of  constitution  for  the 
State  of  Connecticut  to  be  proposed  to  the  electors  of  this 
State  for  their  adoption,  or  rejection,"  and 

WHEREAS,  in  pursuance  of  said  act,  the  Secretary,  Treas- 
urer, and  Comptroller  did,  on  the  seventeenth  day  of  Octo- 
ber, 1901,  canvass  the  votes  returned  to  the  Secretary  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  provisions  of  said  act,  and  did  on  the  nine- 
teenth day  of  October,  1901,  transmit  to  me  their  certificate, 
under  their  hands  in  the  words  and  figures  following,  viz. : 

"  STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT, 
"  OFFICE  OF  THE  SECRETARY, 
"HARTFORD,   October   17,    1901. 

"  To  His  Excellency  GEORGE  P.  McLEAN,  Governor: 

"  The  undersigned,  having  been  designated  by  law  to 
canvass  the  votes  given  in  by  the  electors  at  their  meetings 
in  the  several  towns  in  this  State  on  the  first  Monday  in 
October,  A.D.  1901,  in  favor  of  and  against  the  proposed 
Constitutional  Convention,  hereby  certify  that  they  entered 
upon  the  duties  prescribed  them  on  this  seventeenth  day  of 
October,  and  duly  canvassed  the  said  votes,  which  were  re- 
ceived according  to  law  from  all  the  towns  in  this  State,  ex- 
cept from  the  town  of  East  Haven. 


86  A  PROCLAMATION. 

'  The  whole  number  of  votes  received  and  counted  rela- 
tive to  such  proposed  Constitutional  Convention  is  seventy- 
four  thousand  and  sixty-two,  of  which  number  forty-seven 
thousand  three  hundred  and  seventeen  are  in  favor  of  said 
proposed  Constitutional  Convention,  and  twenty-six  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  forty-five  are  against  said  proposed  Con- 
stitutional Convention. 

"  All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

"  CHAS.  G.  R.  VINAL,  Secretary, 

"HENRY  H.  GALLUP,  Treasurer, 

"  ABIRAM  CHAMBERLAIN,  Comptroller." 

AND  WHEREAS,  it  appears  from  said  certificate  that  a 
majority  of  said  votes  are  in  favor  of  calling  said  Constitu- 
tional Convention,  and  that  said  Constitutional  Convention 
has  been  called  by  the  electors  of  this  State, 

Now  THEREFORE,  in  accordance  with  the  direction  of 
said  act,  I  do  herein  declare  that  said  convention  has  been 
called  by  the  electors  of  this  State, 

AND  WHEREAS,  it  has  been  ascertained  in  the  manner 
provided  by  law  that  said  convention  has  been  called  by  the 
electors  of  this  State, 

Now  THEREFORE,  I,  George  P.  McLean,  Governor  of 
the  State  of  Connecticut,  acting  herein  by  virtue  of  the  au- 
thority vested  in  me  by  Chapter  146  of  the  Public  Acts  of 
1901,  do  hereby  call  a  special  election  to  be  held  on  the  first 
Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  of  November,  1901,  for  the 
purpose  of  electing  delegates  to  such  convention,  according 
to  the  provisions  of  said  act,  and  notice  that  said  delegates 
are  to  be  so  elected  at  such  meeting  shall  be  given  by  the 
proper  officers  in  the  warning  of  said  special  election  in  the 
manner  provided  by  law. 

IN  TESTIMONY  WHEREOF  I  have  caused  the  seal  of  the 

State    to    be    hereunto    affixed,    and    have    hereunto    set    my 

hand,   at   Hartford,   on   this   nineteenth   day 

of   October,    in   the   year   of  our   Lord   one 

[SEAL.]         thousand  nine  hundred  and  one,  and  of  the 

independence  of  the  United  States  the  one 

hundred  and  twenty-sixth. 

GEORGE  P.  McLEAN.  Governor. 


ROLL 

of  the  Delegates 

To  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  Connefticut     1902 

PREPARED    BY    THE    SECRETARY 
January,    1902 


Printed  by  Order  of  the   Comptroller 


ROLL  OF   DELEGATES. 


Hartford 
Avon 
Berlin    . 
Bloomfield     . 
Bristol   . 
Burlington    . 
Canton  . 
East  Granby 
East  Hartford 
East  Windsor 
Enfield  . 
Farmington  . 
Glastonbury  . 

Granby 

i  i 

Hartland 
Manchester  . 
Marlborough 
New  Britain 
Newington    . 
Plainville 
Rocky  Hill    . 
Simsbury 
Southington 
South  Windsor 
Suffield  . 
West  Hartford 
Wethersfield 
Windsor 
Windsor  Locks 


Hartford   County 

.     Charles  Hopkins  Clark 
.     Robert  J.  Holmes 
.     Charles  M.  Jarvis 
.     William  Martin  Brown 
.     Noble  E.  Pierce 
.     E.  Samuel  Gillette 
.     Edward  H.  Sears 
.     Julius  G.  Dickinson 
Percy  S.  Bryant 
Howard  A.  Middleton 
Thompson  S.  Grant 
Amasa  A.  Redfield 
Henry  E.  Loomis 
William  C.  Case  * 
Theodore  M.  Maltbief 
George  W.  Miller 
Frank  W.  Cheney 
Frederick  Cooley 
Robert  J.  Vance 
George  E.  Churchill 
Aquila  H.  Condell 
Owen  R.  Havens 
Joseph  L.  Bartlett 
Marcus  H.  Holcomb 
Lewis  Sperry 
Charles  C.  Bissell 
William  H.  Hall 
Stephen  F.  Willard 
D.  Ellsworth  Phelps 
Thomas  L.  Heaty 


*  Died  December  23,  1901. 


f  Elected  December  30,  1901. 


92 


ROLL  OF   DELEGATES. 


New 

New  Haven  . 

Waterbury    . 

Ansonia 

Beacon  Falls 

Bethany 

Bran ford 

Cheshire 

Derby    . 

East  Haven  . 

Guilford 

Hamden 

Madison 

Meriden 

Middlebury  . 

Milford 

Naugatuck    . 

North  Branford 

North  Haven 

Orange 

Oxford 

Prospect 

Seymour 

Southbury    . 

Wallingford . 

Wolcott 

Woodbridge 


Haven  County 

.  Norris  G.  Osborn 

.  Francis  P.  Guilfoile 

.  Denis  T.  Walsh 

.  Adna  D.  Warner 

.  Samuel  R.  Woodward 

.  Louis  A.  Fisk 

.  Alonzo  E.  Smith 

.  Daniel  E.  McMahon 

.  William  K.  Stevens 

.  Edward  Griswold 

.  James  H.  Webb 

.  John  H.  Meigs 

.  H.  Wales  Lines 

.  George  W.  Wallace 

.  Dumond  P.  Merwin 

.  John  H.  Whittemore 

.  George  L.  Ford 

.  Marcus  D.  Marks 

.  Samuel  J.  Bryant 
William  O.  Davis 

.  David  B.  Hotchkiss 

.  William  H.  H.  Wooster 

.  Henry  B.  Russell 

.  John  B.  Kendrick 

.  Evelyn  M.  Upson 

.  G.  Halsted  Bishop 


ROLL  OF  DELEGATES. 


93 


New  London  County 
New  London  Thomas  M.  Waller 


Norwich 

Bozrah 

Colchester     . 

East  Lyme    . 

Franklin 

Griswold 

Groton  . 

Lebanon 

Ledyard 

Lisbon  . 

Lyme     . 

Montville 

North  Stonington 

Old  Lyme 

Preston 

Salem    . 

Sprague 

Stonington    . 

Voluntown   . 

Waterford 


Frank  T.  Brown 
E.  Judson  Miner 
Barley  P.  Buell 
Edwin  C.  Chipman 
J.  Henry  King 
Arthur  M.  Brown 
Henry  L.  Bailey 
Isaac  Gillette 
William  I.  Allyn 
Calvin  D.  Bromley 
James  L.  Raymond 
Joseph  F.  Killeen 
James  F.  Brown 
Joseph  S.  Huntington 
George  A.  Frink 
Alvah  Morgan 
William  J.  Riley 
Frank  H.  Hinckley 
E.  Byron  Gallup 
Charles  A.  Gallup 


ROLL  OF   DELEGATES. 


Bridgeport    . 

Danbury 

Bethel    . 

Brookfield     . 

Darien  . 

Easton  . 

Fairfield 

Greenwich    . 

Huntington  . 

Monroe 

New  Canaan 

New  Fairfield 

Newtown 

Norwalk 

Redding 

Ridgefield 

Sherman 

Stamford 

Stratford 

Trumbull 

Weston 

Westport 

Wilton  . 


Fairfield  County 

.     Daniel  Davenport 

.     Eugene  C.  Dempsey 

.     Howard  H.  Woodman 

.     Elmer  H.  Northrop 

.     Thaddeus  Bell 

.     Edgar  G.  Jennings 

.     John  H.  Perry 

.     R.  Jay  Walsh 

.     Sturges  Whitlock 

.     Edwin  C.  Shelton 

.     Benjamin  P.  Mead 

Homer  L.  Wanzer 
.     Charles  H.  Northrop 
.    Asa  B.  Woodward 
.     Jonathan  B.  Sanford 
.     William  O.  Seymour 

George  A.  Barnes 
.     Schuyler  Merritt 
.     Henry  P.  Stagg 
.     Ormel  Hall 
.     Frank  Gorham 

Rufus  Wakeman 

H.  E.  Chichester 


Windham 

Putnam 

Ashford 

Brooklyn 

Canterbury 

Chaplin 

Eastford 

Hampton 

Killingly 

Plainfield 

Pom  fret 

Scotland 

Sterling 

Thompson 

Woodstock 


ROLL  OF  DELEGATES. 

Windham  County 

.  Eugene  S.  Boss 

.  Byron  D.  Bugbee 

.  Thomas  K.  Fitts 

.  Henry  M.  Evans 

.  Levi  N.  Clark 

.  William  J.  Groesbeck 

.  Monroe  F.  Latham 

.  William  H.  Burnham 

.  Aurin  P.  Somes 

.  Edwin  Milner 

.  Thomas  O.  Elliott 

.  Gerald  Waldo 

.  Claramon  Hunt 

.  Randolph  H.  Chandler 

.  George  Austin  Bowen 


95 


96 


ROLL  OF  DELEGATES. 


Litchfield  County 
Litchfield  Charles  B.  Andrews 


Winchester  . 
New  Milford 
Barkhamsted 
Bethlehem    . 
Bridgewater . 
Canaan  . 
Colebrook 
Cornwall 
Goshen  . 
Harwinton    . 
Kent      . 
Morris   . 
New  Hartford 
Norfolk 
North  Canaan 
Plymouth 
Roxbury 
Salisbury 
Sharon  . 
Thomaston  . 
Torrington    . 
Warren         /?. 
Washington . 
Watertown   . 
Woodbury     . 


Wellington  B.  Smith 
Charles  M.  Beach 
Hubert  B.  Case 
Abner  P.  Hayes 
Marcus  B.  Mallett 
John  H.  Belden 
Julian  H.  Smith 
Philo  M.  Kellogg 
Henry  G.  Wright 
Clarence  M.  Ely 
Irwin  J.  Beardsley 
Lyman  W.  Whittlesey 
John  Fox  Smith 
William  O'Connor 
Charles  W.  Camp 
Charles  H.  Smith 
George  R.  Crofut 
Donald  T.  Warner 
George  S.  Kirby 
Frank  W.  Etheridge 
Orsamus  R.  Fyler 
Noble  B.  Strong 
John  C.  Brinsmade 
Augustus  N.  Woolson 
Horace  D.  Curtiss 


ROLL  OF  DELEGATES. 


97 


Middletown  . 

Haddam 

Chatham 

Chester  .      -  . 

Clinton  . 

Cromwell 

Durham 

East  Haddam 

Essex     . 

Killingworth 

Middlefield   . 

Old  Saybrook 

Portland 

Saybrook 

Westbrook 


Middlesex  County 

.  D.  Ward  Northrop 

.  George  M.  Clark 

.  William  N.  Markham 

.  Wilbur  A.  Brothwell 

.  Charles  A.  Pelton 

.  Edward  S.  Coe 

.  Frederic  P.  Hubbard 

.  Albert  E.  Purple 

.  George  H.  Blake 

.  Lauren  L.  Nettleton 

.  Fred  W.  Terrill 

.  William  H.  Smith 

.  Asaph  H.  Hale 

.  Frederick  L'Hommedieu 
Theodore  D.  Post 


98 


ROLL  OF  DELEGATES. 


Tolland   County 

Tolland  .  .  Loren  Newcomb 

Andover  .-  .  Elliot  P.  Skinner 

Bolton  .  .  .  J.  White  Sumner 

Columbia  .  .  William  A.  Collins 

Coventry  .  .  Alexander  S.  Hawkins 

Ellington  .  .  Francis  M.  Charter 

Hebron  .  .  Marshall  Porter 

Mansfield  .  .  Ralph  W.  Storrs 

Somers  .  .  George  E.  Keeney 

Stafford  .  .  Edwin  C.  Pinney 

Union    .  .  .  Milton  H.  Kinney 

Vernon  .  .  .  Charles  Phelps 

Willington  .  .  William  H.  Hall 


TOWN 

Representation 

in  the  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY 


By  DR.  CHARLES  J.  HOADLY 

Late  State  Librarian 


[Reprinted  from  the  State  Register  of  1892] 


Printed  by  Older  of  ike   Comptroller 


TOWN    REPRESENTATION 
in  the   General  Assembly. 

BY  the  Fundamental  Orders,  or  constitution,  of 
Connecticut,  adopted  in  January,  1638-9,  the 
towns  of  Windsor,  Hartford,  and  Wethersfield, 
then  the  only  ones  in  combination,  were  author- 
ized to  send  four  of  their  freemen  as  their  depu- 
ties to  every  General  Court;  and  it  was  provided  that  what- 
soever other  towns  should  be  thereafter  added  to  this  juris- 
diction, they  should  send  so  many  deputies  as  the  Court 
should  judge  meet,  "  a  reasonable  proportion  to  the  number 
of  freemen  that  are  in  the  said  towns  being  to  be  attended 
therein." 

Within  twenty  years  from  the  adoption  of  the  constitution 
above  referred  to,  the  number  of  towns  represented  in  the 
General  Court  was  increased  to  ten ;  none  of  them,  however, 
save  Hartford,  Windsor,  and  Wethersfield,  sent  more  than 
two  deputies.  The  largest  number  of  representatives  which 
had  attended  at  any  session  was  twenty-six,  but  there  were 
not  usually  so  many. 

In  October,  1661,  the  general  assembly  ordered  that  it 
"  be  commended  to  the  consideration  of  the  freemen  the  great 
cost  and  burthen  that  lies  upon  this  colony  by  the  great  num- 
ber of  deputies  that  attend  the  general  courts ;  and  if  it  seem 
good  to  the  freemen  it  is  desired  that  the  number  may  be 
lessened  one-half  in  each  town  in  this  colony." 

The  charter  of  1662  regulated  the  number  of  representa- 
tives by  fixing  it  at  "  not  exceeding  two  persons  from  each 
place,  town,  or  city." 

New  towns  were  excused  from  paying  taxes  to  the  colony 
treasury  during  the  difficulties  of  their  first  beginnings;  and, 


I02  TOWN   REPRESENTATION 

as  taxation  and  representation  were  coupled,  they  sent  no 
deputies  to  the  general  assembly :  thus  Litchfield,  settled 
about  1720,  sent  none  until  1740;  Barkhamsted  and  Cole- 
brook,  named  in  1732,  incorporated  as  towns,  1779,  were  not 
represented  until  October,  1796;  Winchester,  named  1733, 
given  town  privileges  1771,  was  first  represented  in  1781 ;  so, 
when  in  1720,  the  east  parish  of  Greenwich  was  exempted 
from  public  taxes  for  four  years,  to  enable  them  to  maintain 
the  gospel  ministry,  it  was  provided  that  the  town  should 
send  during  that  period  but  one  deputy  at  the  public  charge ; 
so,  in  1725,  Ashford  was  exempted  from  public  taxes  for  two 
years,  with  a  proviso  that  they  neither  send  deputies  nor  draw 
money  for  their  school  during  said  term;  and  so,  in  1730, 
New  Milford  was  freed  from  public  taxes  for  two  years,  pro- 
vided they  should  pay  the  salaries  of  any  deputies  they  should 
send  to  the  assembly  during  that  time. 

In  May,  1734,  the  town  of  Haddam  was  divided  and  East 
Haddam  made  a  distinct  town ;  and  it  was  provided  that 
neither  Haddam  nor  East  Haddam  should  send  but  one  rep- 
resentative. These  were  the  first  towns  so  restricted.  It 
seems,  however,  by  the  records  that  Haddam  sent  two  repre- 
sentatives in  October,  1742,  and  in  May,  1743.  In  May, 
1767,  Reading,  which  had  been  a  parish  annexed  to  Fairfield, 
was  erected  into  a  town,  and  in  October  of  the  same  year, 
Chatham  was  set  off  from  Middletown,  and  the  new  towns 
were  allowed  one  representative  each;  but  in  October,  1768, 
these  four  towns  complained  that  it  was  unequal  they  should 
be  so  restricted,  and  the  general  assembly  gave  them  permis- 
sion to  send  two  deputies  each. 

In  the  year  1780  the  House  of  Representatives  consisted 
of  two  members  from  each  of  77  towns  (including  Westmore- 
land, now  in  Pennsylvania).  Barkhamsted,  Colebrook,  and 
Winchester  were  not  represented. 

Watertown,  incorporated  in  May,  1780,  with  the  privilege 
of  sending  two  representatives,  lost  one  of  then)  in  1795,  when 
Plymouth  was  set  off.  Berlin,  incorporated  in  1785,  lost  one 
of  her  representatives  when  New  Britain  was  set  off  in  1850. 
Bristol,  incorporated  in  1785,  with  the  right  of  sending  one 


IN  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY-. 


103 


representative,  is  now  entitled  to  send  two  by  the  amendment 
of  the  state  constitution  of  1874.  East  Haven  was  incorpo- 
rated in  1785  and  allowed  one  representative.  East  Haven 
had  been  made  a  village  distinct  from  the  township  of  New 
Haven  in  May,  1707.  The  inhabitants,  apparently  regarding 
the  act  as  giving  them  town  privileges,  sent  representatives 
(generally  two)  to  seven  sessions  of  the  assembly  between 
1708  and  1710,  who  were  admitted  to  seats;  but,  in  October, 
1710,  the  assembly  voted  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  act  in- 
corporating them  a  village  which  Empowered  them  to  send 
representatives.  One  appeared,  however,  for  East  Haven  in 
May,  1713,  with  a  certificate  of  election,  but  was  not  allowed 
to  take  a  seat.  Thompson  was  incorporated  in  1785,  with  the 
right  to  send  one  representative,  and  has  sent  two  since  May, 
1803.  The  ancient  town  of  Derby  lost  one  when  Oxford  was 
set  off  in  1798,  but  has  recovered  it  under  the  constitutional 
amendment  of  1874. 

In  1786,  no. less  than  eleven  new  towns  were  constituted; 
and  not  only  were  they  restricted  to  one  representative  each, 
but  in  the  case  of  Simsbury,  from  which  Granby  was  sepa- 
rated, the  parent  town  was  also  so  limited,  the  general  assem- 
bly seeming  to  think  that  if  their  number  was  to  be  so  greatly 
enlarged  as  would  be  done  by  giving  each  new  town  the  priv- 
ilege of  sending  two  deputies,  not  only  would  the  expenses 
of  the  state  be  considerably  increased,  but,  as  the  chamber  in 
which  the  house  of  representatives  sat  was  only  thirty  feet 
square,  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  accommodation  for  the 
members.  Besides,  new  towns  could  only  be  made  by  carv- 
ing them  out  of  others  already  existing,  and  by  giving  the 
new  towns  one  representative  each  no  substantial  injustice 
would  be  done:  for  instance,  Bozrah,  Franklin,  and  Lisbon, 
were  all  set  off  from  Norwich,  in  1786,  so  that  after  that  year 
five  deputies  came  from  the  territory  whence  had  previously 
come  two. 

The  privilege  of  sending  two  was  restored  to  Simsbury  in 
October,  1787,  and  the  same  was  accorded  to  Granby  in  Octo- 
ber, 1794. 

Some  towns  incorporated  since  1786  were  allowed  to  send 


104 


TOWN   REPRESENTATION 


two  deputies  though  sending  but  one  at  the  present  time,  — 
as  Weston,  set  off  from  Fairfield  and  Norwalk  in  1787,  orig- 
inally allowed  to  send  but  one,  subsequently  permitted  to  send 
two,  and  relinquishing  that  right  upon  the  incorporation  of 
Easton,  made  from  its  territory  in  1845.  Huntington  was 
separated  from  Stratford  in  1789,  and  was  limited  to  one  rep- 
resentative upon  the  setting  off  of  Monroe,  in  1823. 

Attempts  to  lessen  the  number  of  representatives  have 
been  made  at  various  times.  About  1723,  a  bill  was  passed 
in  the  upper  house  referring  to  the  needless  expense  of  time 
and  money  occasioned  by  so  large  a  representation,  calculat- 
ing that  were  each  town  to  send  but  one  about  £400  per  an- 
num would  be  saved  to  the  colony  treasury,  and  providing  for 
submitting  the  question  to  the  freemen.  This  bill  was  re- 
jected in  the  lower  house. 

Governor  Saltonstall  had  a  controversy  with  the  General 
Assembly  for  several  years,  ending  only  with  his  life ;  he  claim- 
ing that  the  loss  he  had  suffered  in  his  salary  by  depreciation 
of  paper  money  should  be  made  good  to  him,  and  the  legisla- 
ture pretending  that  the  expenses  of  government  were  already 
burdensome  to  the  people.  In  his  speech  to  both  houses, 
May  15,  1.721,  the  Governor  said: 

"  I  am  persuaded  the  freemen,  if  they  thought  the  annual 
charges  of  the  government  for  salaries  (which  is  not  above 
six  or  seven  hundred  pounds  per  annum  in  bullion,  reckoning 
it  at  8s.  per  ounce)  to  be  an  oppression  to  them,  would  desire 
that  an  abatement  should  be  made  in  that  part  which  is  least 
necessary.  Now  you  know  that  there  must  be  a  Governor, 
and  Deputy  Governor  and  Assistants,  but  the  charter  does 
not  require  that  there  should  be  two  gentlemen  from  all  the 
small  towns  that  then  were  or  since  have  been  in  the  colony, 
at  every  assembly,  and  those  supported  at  the  public  charge. 
Not  that  I  think  such  a  number  of  you  gentlemen  of  the  lower 
house  may  not  do  good  service  while  you  are  here,  or  that  it 
is  not  very  agreeable  to  me  to  see  such  a  number  of  good 
gentlemen  and  friends  around  me :  but  then,  certainly,  you 
ought  not  to  look  on  the  expense  for  the  support  of  the  gov- 
ernment as  too  heavy,  when  you  think  good  (at  the  same  time) 


IN  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  105 

to  support  that  part  of  it  which  is  not  of  such  absolute  neces- 
sity." 

Recurring  to  the  subject,  in  his  speech  of  May  13,  1723, 
the  Governor  said :  "  If  you  think  the  circumstances  of  the 
colony  such  that  the  payment  of  the  salaries  of  the  members 
of  this  court  is  too  great  a  burthen,  and  are  desirous  of  lessen- 
ing it,  I  will  offer  this  one  thing  more,  viz.  that  if  you  think 
fit  to  lessen  the  annual  charge,  by  providing  that  but  one 
deputy  be  sent  from  each  town  to  any  assembly,  (which  you 
have  sometimes  had  under  consideration,)  I  will,  at  the  same 
time,  yield  to  the  public  all  pretensions  of  right  "  to  the  sum 
claimed. 

In  May,  1785,  a  bill  drawn  by  Oliver  Ellsworth,  providing 
that  no  town  thereafter  incorporated  whose  list  of  polls  and 
estate  should  not  at  the  time  of  such  incorporation  amount 
to  £20,000,  should  be  entitled  to  send  more  than  one  repre- 
sentative, passed  the  upper  house,  and  was  negatived  in  the 
lower.  Again,  in  1786  and  in  1787,  bills  to  take  the  sense  of 
the  freemen,  as  to  lessening  the  number  of  representatives, 
were  under  consideration.  The  debate  on  the  subject  in  the 
lower  house  in  the  latter  year  is  reported  in  the  Courant  of 
June  4,  1787,  and  upon  putting  the  question  to  the  house  there 
were  in  favor  of  the  proposition  62,  and  75  against  it.  The 
town  of  Hartford  instructed  their  deputies  to  use  their  influ- 
ence that  the  number  of  representatives  might  be  lessened  or 
made  more  equal.  Some  other  towns  took  similar  action. 
The  argument  by  which  the  proposition  was  defeated  seems 
to  have  been :  The  charter  having  said  that  each  town  might 
send  one  or  two  deputies  to  the  General  Assembly,  no  town 
could  be  deprived  of  the  constitutional  privilege  of  sending 
two  but  by  its  own  consent ;  a  general  vote  of  the  freemen  of 
the  State  could  not  do  it. 

In  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1818  the  draft  of  Sec- 
tion 3,  Article  III.,  as  reported  by  the  committee,  read  as  fol- 
lows :  "  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  consist  of  free- 
men residing  in  towns  from  which  they  are  elected.  The 
number  of  representatives  from  each  town  shall  be  the  same 
as  at  present  allowed  and  practiced ;  but  the  general  assembly 


I06  TOWN  REPRESENTATION 

may  reduce  the  number,  provided  that  there  shall  be  always 
at  least  one  representative  from  each  town."  The  last  clause 
was  stricken  out  on  motion  of  Mr.  Alexander  Wolcott.  Mr. 
Fairchild  moved  to  strike  ou  the  first  clause,  and  insert : 
"  Each  town  containing  4,000  persons,  or  more,  shall  be  en- 
titled to  two  representatives,  and  each  town  containing  a 
lesser  number  shall  be  entitled  to  one  representative  and  no 
more ;  the  population  to  be  ascertained  by  the  census  of  the 
United  States  which  shall  have  been  taken  next  preceding  any 
election."  This  was  negatived,  as  were  also  propositions  suc- 
cessively made  to  insert  2,500  and  2,000  in  the  place  of  4,000. 
According  to  the  census  of  Connecticut,  there  were  in  1820 
but  nine  towns  with  a  population  of  4,000  and  upwards. 

On  the  last  day  of  the  sitting  of  the  convention,  on  the 
motion  of  Mr.  Pitkin,  there  was  added  to  Section  3d,  Article 
III.,  the  clause  providing  that  new  towns  thereafter  incorpo- 
rated should  be  entitled  to  one  representative  only;  and  that 
the  town  or  towns  from  which  such  new  town  should  be  made 
should  be  entitled  to  the  same  representation  as  then  allowed, 
unless  the  number  should  be  reduced  by  the  consent  of  such 
town  or  towns. 

Seven  towns  which  sent  two  representatives  each  in  1818 
now  send  but  one,  having  given  up  the  right  of  sending  a  sec- 
ond at  the  division  of  their  territory  in  the  years  following 
their  names:  Berlin,  in  1850;  Branford,  1831;  Woodbridge, 
1832;  Huntington,  1823;  Stratford,  1821;  Weston,  1845; 
Canaan,  1858. 

In  1850,  upon  the  petition  of  Berlin,  that  town  was  divided 
and  a  portion  of  it  incorporated  by  the  name  of  New  Britain, 
"  with  the  right  of  sending  one  representative  to  the  general 
assembly."  This  act  was  passed  on  condition  that  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Berlin,  "  not  including  those  within  the  limits  of  the 
said  new  town  of  New  Britain,"  should  pass  a  vote  relinquish- 
ing all  claim  to  have  two  representatives,  and  consenting  for- 
ever hereafter  to  have  but  one.  However,  in  1851,  and  ever 
since,  the  "  new  town  "  of  New  Britain  has  sent  two  at  each 
session,  on  the  ground  that  New  Britain  was,  in  fact,  the  old 
town,  retaining  the  old  records  of  Berlin ;  and  the  house  of 


IN  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  IO7 

representatives  resolved  in  1853  tnat  the  town  of  New  Britain 
was  entitled  under  the  constitution  of  this  State  to  two  repre- 
sentatives in  the  general  assembly.  At  the  same  session, 
May,  1853,  a  Joint  resolution  was  passed  repealing  so  much 
of  the  resolution  dividing  the  town  of  Berlin  as  limited  New 
Britain  to  one  representative. 

In  1874,  this  constitutional  amendment  was  adopted : 
"  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  consist  of  electors  re- 
siding in  towns  from  which  they  are  elected.  Every  town 
which  now  contains,  or  hereafter  shall  contain,  a  population 
of  five  thousand,  shall  be  entitled  to  send  two  representatives, 
and  every  other  one  shall  be  entitled  to  its  present  representa- 
tion in  the  General  Assembly.  The  population  of  each  town 
shall  be  determined  by  the  enumeration  made  under  the  au- 
thority of  the  census  of  the  United  States  next  before  the 
election  of  Representatives  is  held." 

Under  this  provision  the  following  towns,  incorporated 
since  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  in  1818,  are  now  (1892) 
entitled  to  send  two  Representatives  each :  Ansonia,  Bridge- 
port, Manchester,  Naugatuck,  and  Putnam ;  and  these  towns 
of  older  date  have  each  gained  one :  Derby,  Meriden,  and 
Vernon. 

Another  constitutional  amendment  was  adopted  in  1876, 
which  provided:  "  In  case  a  new  town  shall  hereafter  be  in- 
corporated, such  new  town  shall  not  be  entitled  to  a  Repre- 
sentative in  the  General  Assembly,  unless  it  has  at  least 
twenty-five  hundred  inhabitants,  and  unless  the  town  from 
which  the  major  portion  of  its  territory  is  taken  has  also  at 
least  twenty-five  hundred  inhabitants ;  but  until  such  towns 
shall  each  have  at  least  twenty-five  hundred  inhabitants,  such 
new  town  shall,  for  the  purpose  of  representation  in  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  be  attached  to,  and  be  deemed  to  be  a  part  of, 
the  town  from  which  the  major  portion  of  its  territory  is 
taken,  and  it  shall  be  an  election  district  of  such  town  for  the 
purpose  of  representation  in  the  House  of  Representatives." 

Since  the  adoption  of  this  amendment  no  town  has  been 
incorporated  with  a  population  less  than  2,500,  nor  has  any 
town  been  reduced  below  that  number  by  the  setting  off  of  a 
portion  of  its  territory. 


I0g  TOWN   REPRESENTATION. 

When  the  constitution  was  adopted,  in  1818,  there  were 
120  towns,  of  which  81  sent  two  representatives,  and  39  sent 
one  each  —  the  House  then  consisting  of  201  members. 
Since  the  census  of  1890,  the  House  consists  of  252  mem- 
bers, —  84  of  the  168  towns  being  entitled  to  send  two,  and 
the  same  number  to  send  one  each. 

In  1851,  there  was  prepared  by  the  Comptroller,  and 
printed  by  order  of  the  Legislature,  in  a  pamphlet  of  14  pages, 
a  "  Tabular  Statement  of  the  Number  of  Representatives  from 
the  several  Counties  and  Towns  in  Connecticut,  and  of  the 
taxes  paid  by  each ;  with  the  Numerical  Ratio  of  the  Repre- 
sentation to  the  Population  and  to  the  Taxation,  and  the 
Number  of  Acres  and  Value  of  Land  in  each  Town ;  "  which 
is  mentioned  here  because  the  existence  of  such  a  document 
is  probably  unknown  to  most  of  this  generation.  No  use  has 
been  made  of  it  in  the  preparation  of  this  article. 

CHARLES  J.  HOADLY. 


STATISTICS 

O    F 

Representation,  Population, 
Changes  in  Jurisdiction,  etc.,  of 
the  Towns  in  Connecticut 


Compiled  and  Printed  by  Order  of  the 
Comptroller 


Note 


In  the  following  compilation  the  number  of  representa- 
tives is  copied  from  the  Printed  Records  of  the  State;  the 
population  in  1774  and  1820  from  the  manuscript  volume  in 
this  office  containing  the  census  of  Connecticut  from  1756 
to  1830  inclusive,  and  that  for  1900  from  the  printed  volume 
of  the  Twelfth  Census  of  the  United  States  ;  the  number  of 
Electors  is  from  the  State  Register  of  1901  ;  the  vote  upon 
calling  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1901  from  the  official 
returns  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  ;  and  the  dates  of  incor- 
poration, changes,  etc.,  from  the  State  Register  and  other  offi- 
cial publications  of  the  State. 

It  will  be  observed  that  for  convenience  sake  the  County 
lines  of  the  present  are  followed,  rather  than  those  of  earlier 
days. 


112 


TOWN   STATISTICS. 
HARTFORD  COUNTY. 


TOWNS. 

No. 

Reps. 
1776. 

Pop. 

1774- 

No. 
Reps. 

1818. 

Pop. 
1820. 

No. 
Reps. 
1901. 

Pop. 

ISOO. 

No. 
Electors 
1900. 

VOTE  UPON  CALL- 
ING CONST'L  CON- 
VENTION,   1901. 

Yes. 

No. 

Hartford 
Avon 
Berlin 
Bioomfield 
Bristol 
Burlington 
Canton 
East  Granby 
E.  Hartford 
E.  Windsor 
Enfield 
Farmington 
Glastonbury 
Granby 
Hartland 
Manchester 
Marlborough| 
New  Britain 
Newington 
Plain  ville 
Rocky  Hill 
Simsbury 
Southington 
So.  Windsor 
Suffield 
W.  Hartford 
Wethersfield 
Windsor 
W'd'r  Locks 

2 

5,031 

2 

6,901 

2 
I 
I 
I 
2 
I 
.       I 
I 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
I 
2 
I 
I 
I 
2 
2 
I 
2 
I 
2 
2 
I 

79,850 
1,302 
3.448 
1,513 
9,643 

1,218 

2,678 
684 

6,406 

3,158 

6,699 

3.331 

4,260 

1,299 
592 

10,601 
322 
28,202 
1,041 
2,189 
1,026 
2,094 
5,890 
2,014 
3,521 
3,186 
2,637 
3,6i4 
2,997 

17.435 
293 
752 
353 
2,379 
263 
680 

197 
1,478 
780 
1,413 
818 
994 
354 

122 
2,312 

86 
6,037 

259 
536 
264 
547 
1,509 
474 
865 
651 
496 
886 
745 

3,846 
46 
134 
45 
459 
5i 
145 
9 
156 
138 
297 
no 
78 
29 
6 
193 

2 

1,451 
28 

67 

17 
*     47 
205 

22 
42 
90 
46 

88 
358 

819 
90 
126 

82 

379 
48 
116 

63 
202 
1  66 
380 
126 

H5 
203 
56 
342 
61 

1  10 

104 

83 
103 
230 

202 

137 
383 
105 
123 
344 
45 

2 

2,877 

I 
I 
I 

1,362 
1,360 
1,322 

2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 

3,373 
3.400 
2,065 
3,042 
3-"4 
3,012 

1,254 

3 
2 
2 
2 

2,999 
1,360 
6,069 
2,071 

2 

500 

I 

839 

2 

3,700 

2 
2 

1,954 
1,875 

2 

2,017 

2 

2,681 

2 

2 

3,489 
2,125 

2 
2 

3,825 
3,008 

Totals 

20 

29,361 

32 

47,264 

45 

195,415 

43,987 

8,205 

5.373 

TOWN  STATISTICS. 
HARTFORD  COUNTY.— CONCLUDED. 


Incorporation,  Changes  in  Jurisdiction,  Representation,  etc. 

TOWNS. 

Named  1637.    Part  to  E.  Hartford  1783.    Do.  to  W.  Hartford  1854. 

Hartford 

From  Farmington  1830.     (i  Rep.  1831.) 

Avon 

"     Farmington,  Wethersfield,  and  Middletown  1785.     (2  Rep. 
1785.)     Part  to  N.  Britain  1850.     (i  Rep.  1851.) 
"     Windsor  1835.     (i  Rep.  1836). 

Berlin 
Bloomfield 

"     Farmington  1785.     (i  Rep.  Oct.  1785.)     (2  do.  1881.)     Part 
to  Burlington.     1806. 
"     Bristol  1806.     (i  Rep.  1806.) 

Bristol 
Burlington 

"     Simsbury  1806.     (i  Rep.  1806.) 

Canton 

"     Granby  and  Windsor  Locks  1858.     (i  Rep.  1859.) 

East  Granby 

"     Hartford  1783.     (2  Rep.  1784.)     Part  to  Manchester  1823. 

E.  Hartford 

"     Windsor  1768.     Part  to  Ellington  1786.     Do.  to  S.  Windsor 
1845. 
Annexed  from  Mass.  1749. 

E.  Windsor 
Enfield 

Inc.  1645.     Part  to  Southington  1779.    Do.  to  Bristol  1785.    Do.  to 
Berlin  1785.     Do.  to  Avon  1830.    Do.  to  Plainville  1869. 
From  Wethersfield  1690.     Part  to  Marlborough  1803. 

Farmington 
Glastonbury 

"     Simsbury   1786.     (i    Rep.    1787.)    (2   do.    1795.)     Part  to 
E.  Granby  1858. 
Inc.  1761. 

Granby 
Hartland 

From  E.  Hartford  1823.     (i  Rep.  1823.)    (2  do.  1882.) 

Manchester 

"     Colchester,  Glastonbury,  and  Hebron  1803.     (i  Rep.  1804.) 

Marlborough 

"     Berlin  1850.     (2  Rep.  1851.) 

New  Britain 

"     Wethersfield  1871.     (i  Rep.  1872.) 

Newington 

"     Farmington  1869.     (i  Rep.  1870.) 

Plainville 

"     Wethersfield  1843.     (i  Rep.  1844.) 

Rocky  Hill 

Named  1670.     Part  to  Granby  1786.     Do.  to  Canton  1806. 

Simsbury 

From  Farmington  1779.     (2  Rep.  1780.)     Part  to  Wolcott  1796. 

Southington 

"     E.  Windsor  1845.     (i  Rep.  1846.) 

So.  Windsor 

Annexed  from  Mass.  1749. 

Suffield 

From  Hartford  1854.     (i  Rep.  1855.) 

W.  Hartford 

Named  1637.     Part  to  Glastonbury  1690.     Do.  to  Berlin  1785. 
Do.  to  Rocky  Hill  1843.     Do.  to  Newington  1871. 
"      1637.     Part  to  E.  Windsor  1768.     Do.  to  Bloomfield  1835. 
Do.  to  Windsor  Locks  1854. 
From  Windsor  1854.     (i  Rep.  1855.)     paft  to  E.  Granby  1858. 

Wethersfield 
Windsor 
W'd'r  Locks 

TOWN  STATISTICS. 


NEW  HAVEN  COUNTY. 


TOWNS. 

No. 
Reps. 
1776. 

Pop. 
»774- 

No. 
Reps. 
1818. 

Pop. 
1820. 

No. 
Reps. 
1901. 

Pop.  « 
i<;oo. 

No. 
Electors 
1900. 

VOTE  UPON  CALL- 
ING CONST'L  CON- 
VENTION, 1901. 

Yes.           No. 

New  Haven 

Ansonia 
Beacon  Falls 
Bethany 
Branford 
Cheshire 
Derby 

East  Haven 
Guilford 
Hamden 
Madison 
Meriden 
Middlebury 
Milford 
Naugatuck 
No.  Branford 
No.  Haven 
Orange 
Oxford 
Prospect 
Seymour 
Southbury 
Wallingford 
Waterbury 

Wolcott 
Woodbridge 

2 

8,295 

2 

8,327 

2 

2 
I 
I 
2 
2 
2 

I 

2 

I 
I 
2 
I 
2 
2 
I 
I 
2 
I 
I 
I 
I 
2 
2 

I 
I 

108,027 

12,681 

623 

517 
5,706 

1,989 
7,930 

1,167 

2,785 
4,626 
I,5l8 
28,695 
736 
3,783 
10,541 
814 
2,164 

6,995 

952 
562 

3,541 
1,238 
9,001 
5i,i39 

58i 
852 

25,590 

2,774 
184 

155 
1,265 

495 
1,775 

320 
823 
1,087 
392 
6,485 
161 
1,018 
2,366 

212 
5M 

1,745 
253 
118 

8/5 
317 
2,168 

9,8/9 

129 

191 

IO,5IO 

498) 
13 
4 
240 

53 
342 

No 

3i 
in 

9 
1,866 

Ar 

193 

260 

16. 
31 
367 

7 
4 
69; 
2 
530 
5,637 

No  vote 
6 

287 

62 
37 
84 
323 
161 
46 

returns 
235 
87 
161 
321 
80 
307 
79 
45 
99 
126 
108 

3i 
in 

212 
197 

584 

taken 

36 

2 

2,051 

2 
2 

I 

I 
2 

I 

2,230 
2,28l 
2,088 

1,237 
4,131 
1,687 

2 
2 

1,889 
2,930 

I 
I 

2 

1,309 
838 
2,785 

2 

2,127 

I 

1,298 

I 

1,683 

I 

2 
2 

I 
2 

1,662 
2,237 
2,882 

943 
1,998 

2 
2 

4-9*5 
3,536 

Totals 

14 

25,743 

25 

39,616 

38 

269,163 

61,291 

20,803 

3,8i9 

TOWN   STATISTICS. 
NEW  HAVEN  COUNTY.— CONCLUDED. 


Incorporation,  Changes  in  Jurisdiction,  Representation,  etc. 


TOWNS. 


Named  1640.     N.   H.  Colony  Juris.     United  with  Conn.    1665. 

Part  to  Woodbridge  1784.     Do.  to  E.  Haven  1785.     Do. 

to  No.  Haven    1786.     Do.    to   Hamden    1786.     Do.   to 

Orange  1822. 
From  Derby  1889.     (2  Rep.  1891.) 

"     Bethany,  Oxford,  Seymour  and  Naugatuck  1871.     (i  Rep. 

1872.) 
"    Woodbridge  1832.     (i  Rep.  1833.)     Part  to  Naugatuck  1844. 

Do.  to  Beacon  Falls  1871. 
Sett.  1644.     N.  H.  Col.  Juris.     United  with  Conn.  1665.     Part  to 

No.  Branford  1831.     (i  Rep.  1832.)     (2  do.  1901.) 
From  Wallingford  1780.     (2  Rep.  1780.)     Part  to  Prospect  1827. 

Named  1675.  Date  org.  uncertain.  Part  to  Oxford  1798.  (i 
Rep.  1799.)  Do.  to  Seymour  1850.  (2  Rep.  1875.)  Do. 
to  Ansonia  1889. 

From  New  Haven  1785.     (i  Rep.  1785.) 

Named  1643.     N.  H.  Col.  Juris.     United  with  Conn.  1662.     Part 

to  Madison  1826. 
From  New  Haven  1786.     (i  Rep.  1786.) 

"     Guilford  1826.     (i  Rep.  1827.) 

"     Wallingford  1806.     (i  Rep.  1806.)     (2  do.  1875.) 

"     Waterbury,  Woodbury,  and  Southbury  1807.    (i  Rep.  1807.) 

Sett.  1639.     N.  H.  Col.  Juris.    Submitted  to  Conn.  1664.     Part  to 

Woodbridge  1784.     Do.  to  Orange  1822. 
From   Waterbury,    Bethany,    and   Oxford    1844.     (i   Rep.    1845.) 

Part  to  Beacon  Falls  1871.     (2  Rep.  1891.) 
"     Branford  1831.     (i  Rep.  1832.) 

"     New  Haven  1786.     (i  Rep.  1787.) 

"     Milford  and  New  Haven  1822.    (i  Rep.  1823.)    (2  do.  1901.) 

"     Derby  and  Southbury  1798.    (i  Rep.  1799.)    Part  to  Nauga- 
tuck 1844.     Do.  Beacon  Falls  1871. 
"     Cheshire  and  Waterbury  1827.     (i  Rep.  1828.) 

"     Derby  1850.     (i  Rep.  1851.)    Part  to  Beacon  Falls  1871. 

"     Woodbury  1787.    (i  Rep.  1787.)    Part  to  Oxford  1798.    Do. 

to  Middlebury  1807. 
Named  1670.     Part  to  Cheshire  1780.     Do.  to  Meriden  1806. 

"     1686.    Part  to  Watertown  1780.     Do.  to  Wolcott  1796.    Do. 
to   Middlebury   1807.     Do.   to   Prospect   1827.     Do.   to 
Naugatuck  1844. 
From  Waterbury  and  Southington  1796.     (i  Rep.  1796.) 

"     New  Haven  and   Milford   1784.     (2   Rep.   1784.)     Part  to 
•      Bethany  1832.     (i  Rep.  1833.) 


New  Haven 

Ansonia 

Beacon  Falls 

Bethany 

Branford 

Cheshire 

Derby 

East  Haven 

Guilford 

Hamden 

Madison 

Meriden 

Middlebury 

Milford 

Naugatuck 

No.  Branford 

No.  Haven 

Orange 

Oxford 

Prospect 

Seymour 

Southbury 

Wallingford 

Waterbury 

Wolcott 
Woodbridge 


u6 


TOWN   STATISTICS. 
NEW  LONDON  COUNTY. 


VOTE  UPON  CALL- 

TOWNS. 

Ho. 

Reps. 

Pop. 

No. 

Reps. 

Pop. 

l82O. 

No. 
Reps. 

Pop. 

No. 
Electors 

ING  CONST'L  CON- 
VENTION, 1901. 

1776. 

*774* 

1818. 

1901. 

900. 

1900. 

Yes. 

No. 

New  London 

2 

5,888 

2 

3,330 

2 

17,548 

3-967 

897 

280 

Norwich 

2 

7,327 

2 

3,634 

2 

24,637 

5,444 

1,667 

218 

BozKttii 

I 

1,083 

I 

7QQ 

213 

AS 

67 

Colchester 

2 

3,258 

2 

2,152 

2 

/  y  7 
1,991 

™*w 

571 

T-  D 

239 

u  / 

16 

East  Lyme 

I 

1,836 

ccn 

TTC 

7O 

Franklin 

I 

1,161 

I 

*  »  w  Jv 

£46 

OWO 

146 

*  x  D 

8 

/^ 
4.^ 

Griswold 



I 

1,869 

I 

J*TV 

3.490 

•^•T*^ 

872 

172 

M-J 

179 

Groton 

2 

3,488 

2 

4,664 

2 

5.962 

1,566 

327 

376 

Lebanon 

2 

3,96o 

2 

2,719 

2 

1,521 

387 

3 

in 

Ledyard 

I 

I  236 

^o^ 

2A 

C.A 

Lisbon 

I 

1,159 

J 

*  ,  *•  ^  v 
607 

J*^  J 

ici 

*"\ 
I 

0*T 

4.2 

Lyme 

2 

4,088 

2 

4,069 

2 

v~7  / 

750 

*  J  * 

226 

6 

t 

106 

Montville 

I 

I  9*51 

I 

2,3Q<; 

648 

it 

QI 

N.  Ston'gton 

2 

,  7  J 

2,62/ 

2 

^  »•/  7  J 
I,24O 

VfefW 

^CQ 

II 

v  A 
ic8 

Old  Lyme 

I 

I,  l8O 

J  J  v 
•2QS 

12 

*  j^ 

Q8 

Preston 

2 

2,338 

2 

1,899 

2 

2,807 

JWW 

728 

19 

yu 

81 

Salem 

1,053 

I 

468 

127 

3 

76 

Sprague 

I 

la-JQ 

25^ 

AL 

"31 

Stonington 

2 

5,412 

2 

3,056 

2 

•  >  JJ? 

8,540 

•*•  j  „? 

2,115 

^ 
29^ 

*?  * 

279 

Voluntown 

2 

i,5" 

I 

1,116 

I 

872 

211 

31 

45 

Waterford 

•• 

...... 

I 

2,239 

I 

2,90; 

675 

12 

267 

^Totals 

18 

37,630 

25 

39.778 

30 

82,758 

19,764 

3.944 

2,688 

TOWN   STATISTICS. 
NEW  LONDON  COUNTY.— CONCLUDED. 


117 


Incorporation,  Changes  in  Jurisdiction,  Representation,  etc. 


TOWNS. 


Named  1658.     Part  to  Groton  1705.     Do.  to  Montville  1786       Do 

to  Waterford,  1801. 
Settled  1660.     Part  to  each,  Bozrah,  Franklin,  and  Lisbon  1786. 

From  Norwich  1786.     (i  Rep.  1786.) 

Named  1699.     Part  to  Marlborough  1803.     Do.  to  Salem  1819. 

From  Lyme  and  Waterford  1839.     (i  Rep.  1840.) 

"     Norwich  1786.     (i  Rep.  1786.)     Part  to  Sprague  1861. 

"     Preston  1815.     (i  Rep.  1816.) 

"     New  London  1705.     Part  to  Ledyard  1836. 
Inc.  1700.     Part  to  Columbia  1804. 
From  Groton  1836.     (i  Rep.  1837.) 

"     Norwich  1786.     (i  Rep.  1786.)     Part  to  Sprague  1861. 

"     Saybrook  1665.     Part  to  Salem  1819.     Do.  to  E.  Lyme  1839. 

Do.  to  Old  Lyme  1855. 
New  London  1786.     (i  Rep.  1787.)  Part  to  Salem  1819. 

"     Stonington  1807.     (i  Rep.  1807.)    (2  do.  1812.) 

"     Lyme  1855.     (i  Rep.  1856.) 
Named  1687.     Part  to  Griswold  1815. 
From  Colchester,  Lyme,  and  Montville  1819.     (i  Rep.  1820.) 

"     Lisbon  and  Franklin  1861.     (i  Rep.  1862.) 
Inc.  by  Mass.  1658.     Part  to  No.  Stonington  1807. 
Named  1708.     Part  to  Sterling  1794.     (i  Rep.  1794.) 
From  New  London  1801.     (i  Rep.  1802.)     Part  to  E.  Lyme  1839. 


New  London 

Norwich 

Bozrah 

Colchester 

East  Lyme 

Franklin 

Griswold 

Groton 

Lebanon 

Ledyard 

Lisbon 

Lyme 

Montvile 

N.  Ston'gton 

Old  Lyme 

Preston 

Salem 

Sprague 

Stonington 

Voluntown 

Waterford 


TOWN  STATISTICS. 
FAIRFIELD   COUNTY. 


TOWNS. 

No. 
Reps. 
1776. 

Pop. 
1774- 

No. 

Reps. 

1818. 

Pop. 
1820. 

No. 
Reps. 
1901. 

Pop. 
1900. 

No. 

Electors 
1900. 

VOTE  UPON  CALL- 
ING CONST'L  CON- 
VENTION, IOOI. 

Yes. 

No. 

Bridgeport 
Bethel 
Brookfield 
Darien 

2 

I 
I 
I 

70,996 

3,327 

1,046 
3,n6 

15,535 

888 
281 
583 

3,090 
217 

14 

60 

151 
96 
123 
23 

I 

1,159 
1,126 

Danbury 
Easton 
Fairfield 

2 

2,526 

2 

3,873 

2 

I 
2 

19,474 
960 

4,489 

4,971 

218 
1  ,066 

1,747 

I 
156 

4OO 
108 
164 

2 

4,863 

2 

4,151 

Greenwich 

2 

2,776 

2 

3.790 

2 

12,172 

2,608 

516 

261 

Huntington 
Monroe 
New  Canaan 
New  Fairfield 

2 

2,805 

2 

I 
I 
I 

5,572 
1,043 
2,968 

584 

1,193 

287 

707 
161 

216 
16 
169 
9 

80 
141 
159 
9i 

I 
I 

1,689 

788 

2 

1,308 

Newtown 

2,229 

2 

2,879 

2 

3,276 

I,025 

203 

143 

Norwalk 

2 

4,388 

2 

3,004 

2 

19,932 

4,969 

772 

136 

Redding 

2 

1,234 

2 

1,678 

2 

1,426 

38i 

16 

190 

Ridgefield 
Sherman 
Stamford 

2 

1,708 

2 

I 
2 

2,301 

957 
3-284 

2 

I 
2 

2,626 

658 
18,839 

640 

185 
4,583 

92 
i 
1,192 

248 
105 

483 

2 

3,563 

Stratford 
Trumbull 
Weston 
Westport 

Wilton 

2 

5,555 

2 
I 
2 

3,438 
1,232 

2,767 

I 

I 
I 
I 
I 

3,657 
1,587 
840 
4,oi7 
1,598 

841 

37i 
222 
938 
426 

"5 
4 
13 

,    *55 
27 

214 
163 

59 
1  20 
31 

I 

1,818 

Totals 

18 

30,150 

23 

42,739 

33 

184,203 

43-079 

8,801 

3,689 

TOWN   STATISTICS. 
FAIRFIELD    COUNTY  -  CONCLUDED. 


119 


Incorporation,  Changes  in  Jurisdiction,  Representation,  etc. 

Towns. 

From  Stratford  1821.     (i  Rep.  1822.)    (2  do.  1875.) 

Bridgeport 

"     Danbury  1855.     (i  Rep.  1856.) 

Bethel 

"     Danbury,  New  Milford,  and  Newtown  1788.     (i  Rep.  1788.) 

Brookfield 

"     Stamford  1820.     (i  Rep.  1821.) 

Darien 

Named  1687.     Part  to  Brookfield  1788.     Do.  to  Bethel  1855. 

Danbury 

From  Weston  1845.     (i  Rep.  1846.) 

Easton 

Named  1645.     Part  to  Redding  1767.     Do.  to  Weston  1787.     Do. 
to  Westport  1835. 
Settled  1640.     N.  H.  Col.  Juris.     Submitted  to  Conn.  1662. 

Fairfield 
Greenwich 

From  Stratford  1789.     (2  Rep.   1789.)    Part  to  Monroe  1823.     (i 
Rep.  1824.)    (2  do.  1901.) 
"     Huntington  1823.     (i  Rep.  1824.) 

Huntington 
Monroe 

"     Norwalk  and  Stamford  1801.     (i  Rep.  1801.) 

New  Canaan 

Inc.  1740.     Part  to  Sherman  1802.     (i  Rep.  1803.) 

New  Fairfield 

"     1711.     Part  to  Brookfield  1788.     (2  Rep.  1747  and  irregularly 
afterwards.     No.  Rep.  in  1776.) 
"     1651.     Part  to  New  Canaan  1801.     Do.  to  Wilton  1802.     Do. 
to  Westport  1835. 
From  Fairfield  1767. 

Newtown 
Norwalk 
Redding 

Inc.  1709. 

Ridgefield 

From  New  Fairfield  1802.     (i  Rep.  1803.) 

Sherman 

Named  1641.     N.  H.  Col.  Juris.     Submitted  to  Conn.  1662.     Part 
to  New  Canaan  1801.     Do.  to  Darien  1820. 
Settled  1639.     Part  to  Huntington  1789.     Do.  to  Trumbull  1797. 
Do.  to  Bridgeport  1821.     (i  Rep.  1822.) 
From  Stratford  1797.     (i  Rep.  1798.) 

Stamford 
Stratford 
Trumbull 

"     Fairfield  1787.     (i  Rep.  1788.)    (2  do.  1808.)     Part  to  West- 
port  1835.     Do.  to  Easton  1845.     (i  Rep.  1846.) 
"     Fairfield,  Norwalk,  and  Weston  1835.     (i  Rep.  1836.) 

Weston 
Westport 

"     Norwalk  1802.     (i  Rep.  1802.) 

Wilton 

I2O 


TOWN  STATISTICS. 


WINDHAM  COUNTY. 


TOWNS. 

No. 
Reps. 
1776. 

Pop. 
1774- 

No. 
Reps. 
1818. 

Pop. 

1820. 

No. 
Reps. 
1901. 

Pop. 

1900. 

No. 
Electors 
1900. 

VOTE  UPON  CALL- 
ING CONST'  L  CON- 
VENTION, 1901. 

Yes. 

No. 

Brooklyn 



I 

1,264 

I 

2,358 

373 

35  j         66 

Ashford 

2 

2,241 

2 

2,778 

2 

757 

246 

8          125  . 

Canterbury 
Chaplin 
Eastford 
Hampton 

2 

2,444 

2 

1,984 

2 

I 
I 
I 

876 
529 
523 
629 

270 
140 
161 

189 

12 
II 

7 
13 

117 

71 
92 

78 

I 

1,313 

Killingly 

2 

3,486 

2 

2,803 

2 

6,835 

1,390 

72 

304 

Plainfield 

2 

1,562 

2 

2,097 

2 

4,821 

870 

117 

385 

Pomfret 
Putnam 
Scotland 
Sterling 
Thompson 
Windham 

2 

2,306 

2 

2,042 

2 
2 

I 
I 
2 
2 

1,831 
7.348 
47i 
1,209 
6,442 
10,137 

388 
1,269 
149 
301 
735 
2,075 

15 
107 
6 
17 
H3 
353 

96 
408 
63 

no 

253 
498 

I 
2 
2 

I,2OO 
2,928 

2,489 

2 

3,528 

Woodstock 

2 

2,054 

2 

3,017 

2 

2,095 

499 

33 

136 

Totals 

14 

17,621 

19 

23,915 

24 

46,861 

9,055 

919 

2,802 

TOWN   STATISTICS. 
WINDHAM  COUNTY.— CONCLUDED. 


121 


Incorporation,  Changes  in  Jurisdiction,  Representation,  etc. 

TOWNS. 

From   Pomfret  and   Canterbury   1786.     (i  Rep.   1786.)     Part  to 
Hampton  1786. 
Named  1710.     Part  to  Eastford  1847. 

Brooklyn 
Ashford 

From  Plainfield  1703.     Part  to  Brooklyn  1786.     Do.  to  Hampton 
1786. 
"     Mansfield  and  Hampton  1822.     (i  Rep.  1823,) 

Canterbury 
Chaplin 

"     Ashford  1847.     (i  Rep.  1848.) 

Eastford 

"     Windham,  Pomfret,    Brooklyn,  Canterbury,  and   Mansfield 
1786.     (i  Rep.  1787.)     Part  to  Chaplin  1822. 
Inc.  1708.     Part  to  Thompson  1785.     Do.  to  Putnam  1855. 

Hampton 
Killingly 

"     1699.     Part  to  Canterbury  1703. 

Plainfield 

Named  1713.     Inc.  uncertain.     Part  to  Brooklyn  1786.     Do.   to 
Hampton  1786.     Do.  to  Putnam  1855. 
From  Pomfret,  Thompson,  and  Killingly  1855.     (J   Rep.   1856.) 
(2  do.  1881.) 
"     Windham  1857.     (i  Rep.  1858.) 

Pomfret 
Putnam 
Scotland 

"     Voluntown  1794.     (i  Rep.  1794.) 

Sterling 

"     Killingljfci785.     (i  Rep.  1785.)    (2  do.  1803.)     Part  to  Put- 
nam 1855. 
Inc.  1692.     Part  to  Mansfield  1702.     Do.  to  Hampton  1786.     Do. 
to  Scotland  1857. 
From  Mass.  1749. 

Thompson 
Windham 
Woodstock 

122 


TOWN   STATISTICS. 
LITCHFIELD  COUNTY. 


TOWNS. 

No. 
Reps. 
1776. 

Pop. 
1774- 

No. 
Reps. 
1818. 

Pop. 
1820. 

No. 
Reps, 
igoi. 

Pop. 
1900. 

No. 
Electors 
igoo. 

VOTE  UPON  CALL- 
ING CONST'  L  CON- 
VENTION, 1901. 

Yes. 

No. 

Litchfield 

2 

2,554 

2 

4,6lO 

2 

3,214 

823 

6l 

382 

Barkhamsted 
Bethlehem 
Bridgewater 
Canaan 

•• 

250 

2 
I 

1,592 
932 

2 
I 
I 
I 

864 
576 
649 
820 

251 
151 
173 
214 

7 
3i 
17 

12 

158 
44 
38 
75 

2 

i,635 

2 

2,332 

Colebrook 

•• 

150 

2 

1,274 

2 

684 

197 

5 

134 

Cornwall 

2 

974 

2 

1,662 

2 

1,175 

312 

9 

206 

Goshen 

2 

i,ui 

2 

1,586 

2 

835 

210 

13 

96 

Harwinton 

2 

1,018 

2 

I,50O 

2 

1,213 

293 

30 

107 

Kent 
Morris 
N.  Hartford 

2 

1,996 

I 

1,956 

I 
I 
2 

I,22O 

535 
3,424 

325 
154 
567 

8 
7 

•        58 

'120 

67 
182 

2 

1,001 

2 

1,685 

N.  Milford 
No.  Canaan 
Norfolk 
Plymouth 
Roxbury 
Salisbury 

2 

2,776 

2 

3,830 

2 
I 
2 

I 

I 
2 

4,804 
1,803 
1,614 
2,828 
1,087 
3,489 

1,268 

456 

399 
614 

227 

757 

192 

67 
13 

89 
19 

45 

243 
80 

275 
81 

73 
275 

969 

2 

I 
I 
2 

1,422 

1,758 
1,12-1 
2,695 

2 

1,980 

Sharon 
Thomaston 
Torrington 
Warren 
Washington 
Watertown 
Winchester 

2 

2,012 

2 

2,573 

2 
I 

2 

I 
2 
I 
2 

1,982 
3,300 
12,453 
432 
1,820 
3,100 
7,763 

542 
796 
2,752 

)  o  5 
454 
653 
i,9i3 

14 
276 
876 

2 

36 
134 
I87 

245 
20 
96 
65 

2OI 

188 
673 

2 

845 

2 

I 
2 
I 
2 

1.449 
875 
1,487 
1-439 
1,601 

339 

Woodbury 

2 

5,313 

2 

1,885 

2 

1,988 

515 

32 

246 

Totals 

24 

24,923 

38 

41,267 

41 

63,672 

15,121 

2,240 

4,370 

TOWN  STATISTICS. 
LITCHFIELD  COUNTY.— CONCLUDED. 


123 


Incorporation,  Changes  in  Jurisdiction,  Representation,  etc. 

TOWNS. 

Inc.  1719.     Part  to  Washington  1779.     Do.  to  Morris  1859. 

Litchfield 

"     1779.     (No  State  tax  till  1796,  then  2  Rep.) 

Barkhamsted 

"     1787.     (i  Rep.  1787). 

Bethlehem 

From  New  Milford  1856.     (i  Rep.  1857.) 

Bridgewater 

Inc.  1739.     Part  to  North  Canaan  1858.     (i  Rep.  1859.) 

Canaan 

"     1779.     (No  State  tax  till  1796,  then  2  Rep.) 

Colebrook 

"     1740. 

Cornwall 

"     1739- 

Goshen 

"     1737- 

Harwiaton 

"     1739.     Part  to  Washington  1779.     Do.  to  Warren  1786.     (i 
Rep.  1786.) 
From  Litchfield  1859.     (i  Rep.  1860.) 

Kent 
Morris 

Inc.  1738. 

N.  Hartford 

"     1712.     Part  to  Washington    1779.     Do.  to  Brookfield  1788. 
Do.  to  Bridgewater  1856. 
From  Canaan  1858.     (i  Rep.  1859.) 

N.  Milford 
No.  Canaan 

Inc.  1758.     (2  Rep.  Oct.,  1777.) 

Norfolk 

From  Watertown  1795.     (i  Rep.  1795).     Part  to  Thomaston  1875. 

Plymouth 

"      Woodbury  1796.     (i  Rep.  1797.) 

Roxbury 

Inc.  1741. 

Salisbury 

"     1739- 

Sharon 

From  Plymouth  1875.     (i^Rep.  1876.) 

Thomaston 

Inc.  1740. 

Torrington 

From  Kent  1786.     (i  Rep.  1786.) 

Warren 

"     Woodbury,  Litchfield,  Kent,  and  New  Milford  1779.    (2  Rep. 
I779-) 
Waterbury  1780.     (2  Rep.   1780).     Part  to  Plymouth    1795. 
(i  Rep.  1795.) 
Inc.  1771.     (No  State  tax  till  1781,  then  i  Rep).     (2  Rep.  1797.) 

Washington 
Watertown 
Winchester 

Named  1674.     Part  to  Washington  1779.     Do.  to  Southbury  1787. 
Do.  to  Roxbury  1796.     Do.  to  Middlebury  1807. 

Woodbury 

124 


TOWN  STATISTICS. 
MIDDLESEX   COUNTY. 


TOWNS. 

No. 
Reps. 
1776. 

Pop. 

1774- 

No. 

Reps. 
1818. 

Pop. 
1820. 

No. 
Reps. 
1901. 

Pop. 
i  goo. 

No. 
Electors 
1900. 

VOTE  UPON  CALL- 
ING CONST'  L  CON- 
VENTION, 1901. 

Yes. 

No. 

Middletown 

2 

4,878 

2 

6,479 

2 

17,486 

3,597 

1,113 

IQO 

Haddam 

2 

1,726 

2 

2,478 

2 

2,015 

500 

23 

2OI 

Chatham 
Chester 
Clinton 
Cromwell 
Durham 

2 

2,397 

2 

3,159 

2 

I 
I 
I 
2 

2,271 
1,328 
1,429 
2,031 

884 

612 

333 
375 
458 
245 

65 

49 

32 
97 

8 

276 

91 

162 

51 
102 

2 

1,076 

2 

1,210 

E.  Haddam 
Essex 

Killingworth 
Middlefield 
Old  Saybrook 
Portland 
Saybrook 
Westbrook 

2 

2,808 

2 

2,572 

2 

I 
2 
I 

I 
I 
2 

I 

2,485 
2,530 
65I 
845 
1,431 
3,856 
1,634 
884 

559 
770 
144 
191 

355 
850 
404 
229 

24 
97 
6 

21 

27 
246 

48 
14 

212 
204 

76 

75 
"7 
262 

133 
93 

2 

1,990 

2 

2,342 

2 

2,687 

2 

4,165 

Totals 

14 

17,562 

14 

22,405 

22 

41,760 

9,622 

1,870 

2,245 

TOWN   STATISTICS. 
MIDDLESEX   COUNTY. —CONCLUDED. 


125 


Incorporation,  Changes  in  Jurisdiction,  Representation,  etc. 

TOWNS. 

Inc.  1651.     Part  to  Chatham  1767.     Do.  to  Berlin  1785.     Do.  to 
Cromwell  1851.     Do.  to  Middlefield  1866. 
"     1668.     Part  to  East  Haddam  1734. 

Middletown 
Haddam 

From  Middletown  1767.     Part  to  Portland  1841. 

Chatham 

"     Saybrook  1836.     (i  Rep.  1837.) 

Chester 

"     Killing-worth  1838.     (i  Rep.  1839.) 

Clinton 

"     Middletown  1851.     (i  Rep.  1852.) 

Cromwell 

Inc.  1708. 

Durham 

From  Haddam  1734. 

E.  Haddam 

"     Old  Saybrook  1854.     (i  Rep.  1855.) 

Essex 

Named  $667.     Part  to  Clinton  1838. 

Killingworth 

From  Middletown  1866.     (i  Rep.  1867.) 

Middlefield 

"     Saybrook  1852.     (i  Rep.  1853.)     Part  to  Essex  1854. 

Old  Saybrook 

"     Chatham  1841.     (i  Rep.  1842.) 

Portland 

United  with  Conn.  1644.     Part  to  Lyme  1665.     Do.  to  Chester 
1836.    Do.  to  Westbrook  1840.    Do.  to  O.  Saybrook  1852. 
From  Saybrook  1840.     (i  Rep.  1841.) 

Saybrook 
Westbrook 

126 


TOWN   STATISTICS. 
TOLLAND    COUNTY. 


TOWNS. 

No. 
Reps. 
1776. 

Pop. 
1774- 

No. 
Reps. 

1818. 

Pop. 
1820. 

No. 
Reps. 
1901. 

Pop. 
igoo. 

No. 
Electors 

IQOO. 

VOTE  ON  CALL- 
ING CONST'  L  CON- 
VENTION, 1901. 

Yes.           No. 

Tolland 
Andover 
Bolton 
Columbia 
Coventry 
Ellington 
Hebron 

2 

1,262 

2 

I,6O7 

2 
I 

I 
I 
2 

I 
2 

1,036 
385 
457 
655- 
1,632 
1,829 
1,016 

288 
IO4 
II9 
162 
448 
421 
236 

6 
13 

L 

25 
38 
13 

138 
38 
38 
74 
150 
107 
70 

2 

I,OOI 

I 
I 
2 

I 
2 

731 
941 
2,058 
1,196 
2,094 

2 

2,056 

2 

2,337 

Mansfield 

2 

2,466 

2 

2,993 

2 

1,827 

492 

21 

179 

Somers 

2 

1,027 

2 

1,306 

2 

1,593 

341 

45 

35 

Stafford 

2 

1,334 

2 

2,369 

2 

4,297 

982 

1  80 

285 

Union 

514 

2 

757 

2 

428 

IO2 

3 

54 

Vernon 

I 

966 

2 

8,483 

I,9l6 

171 

488 

Willington 

2 

1,001 

2 

1,246 

2 

885 

232 

9 

103 

Totals 

16 

12,998 

20 

18,264 

22 

24,523 

5,843 

535 

1,759 

TOWN   STATISTICS. 
TOLLAND  COUNTY.  — CONCLUDED. 


127 


Incorporation,  Changes  in  Jurisdiction,  Representation,  etc. 

TOWNS. 

Named  1715. 

Tolland 

From  Hebron  and  Coventry  1848.     (i  Rep.  1849.) 

Andover 

Inc.  1720.     Part  to  Vernon  1808.     (i  Rep.  1809.) 

Bolton 

From  Lebanon  1804.     (i  Rep.  1805.) 

Columbia 

Named  1711.     Part  to  Andover  1848. 

Coventry 

From  East  Windsor  1786.     (i  Rep.  1786.) 

Ellington 

Inc.  1708.     Part  to  Marlborough  1803.     Do.  to  Andover  1848. 

Hebron 

From  Windham  1702.     Part  to  Hampton  1786.     Do.  to  Chaplin 
1822. 
"     Massachusetts  1749. 

Mansfield 
Somers 

Settled  1719. 

Stafford 

Inc.  1734.     (No  State  tax  or  Representation  till  1780,  then  2  Rep.) 

Union 

From  Bolton  1808.     (i  Rep.  1809.)    (2  do.  1875.) 

Vernon 

Inc.  1727. 

Willington 

128 


TOWN   STATISTICS. 


RECAPITULATION. 


Counties. 

No. 
R'ps. 
1776. 

Pop. 
1774- 

No. 
R'ps. 
1818. 

Pop. 
1820. 

No. 
R'ps. 
1901. 

Pop. 

1900. 

No. 
Electors 
1900. 

VOTE  UPON  CALL- 
ING CONST'  L  CON- 
VENTION, IQOI. 

Yes. 

No. 

Hartford 

20 

29,361 

32 

47,264 

45 

195,415 

43,987 

8,205 

5,373 

New  Haven 

14 

25,743 

25 

39,6l6 

38 

269,163 

61,29! 

20,803 

3,819 

New  London 

18 

37,630 

25 

39,778 

30 

82,758 

19,764 

3,944 

2,688 

Fairfield 

18 

30,150 

28 

42,739 

33 

184,203 

43,079 

8,801 

3,689 

Windham 

14 

17,621 

19 

23,915 

24 

46,861 

9-055 

919 

2,802 

Litchfield 

24 

24,923 

38 

41,267 

4i 

63,672 

15,121 

2,240 

4,370 

Middlesex 

14 

17,562 

14 

22,405 

22 

41,760 

9,622 

1,870 

2,245 

Tolland 

16 

12,998 

2O 

18,264 

22 

24,523 

5,843 

535 

1,759 

Totals 

*I38 

*I95,988 

2O-I 

195,0^8 

255 

908,355 

207,762 

47,317 

26,745 

*The  town  of  Westmoreland,  now  in  Pennsylvania,  was  included  in  Litchfield  County  and 
had  two  Representatives  in  1776,  making  a  total  of  140,  and  in  1774  had  a  population  of  1,922, 
making  the  total  census  of  Connecticut  197,910. 


